by Peter Mutai
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- The Horn of Africa is again polio-free, with Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda having reported no wild poliovirus cases for more than a year, the UN children's fund, UNICEF said.
UNICEF and its partners said in a joint statement received here Saturday that the achievement marked a step towards targets in new polio eradication strategy. "Today marks a step towards the achievement of a major objective of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's new strategy, stopping polio in Africa," they said.
The outbreak began in 2008, following the reappearance of wild poliovirus type 1 in the border area of southern Sudan and Ethiopia, and spread in early 2009 to the northern Sudanese city of Port Sudan, and to Kenya and Uganda.
The cases in Port Sudan sparked particular international concern as it was from this area that, from 2004 to 2006, wild poliovirus type 1 spread to re-infect several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Yemen and Indonesia.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF.
UNICEF noted that the successful handling of the polio outbreak that began in 2008 in the Horn of Africa is attributed to a series of multi-country immunization campaigns, along with greater technical support and strong political engagement by the affected countries.
