Polio outbreak in Congo: 200 dead since October

Written by Sandeep Nehra

A wild polio virus has caused in the Congo since October, the death of 200 people at more than 470 cases, AFP has learned from sources sanitary on Thursday on the eve of the launch of a new phase of mass vaccination in Brazzaville.

“The death rate has decreased in recent days. But today (Thursday) we are 200 deaths and 472 cases nationally,” he said at a brief press conference the Regional Director of United Nations Fund for Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for West Africa and Central Africa, Dr. Gianfranco Rotigliano.

Dr. Rotigliano, based in Dakar, paid a visit Wednesday Hospital Pointe-Noire (south), economic capital and epicenter of the epidemic. UNICEF, together with the Congolese Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO) one of the organizers of the mass immunization campaign against polio.

The first phase launched in mid-November has been closed, and the “second pass starts tomorrow (Friday) and will last until Tuesday, said Dr. Rotigliano.

“We believe within seven to ten days after the second pass, there will be no more new cases,” he added.

The representative of UNICEF in the country, Marianne Flach, Congo received across 18 million doses of vaccines and immunization coverage has reached “almost 100%” at the national level.

In a message released on Thursday by the state radio, the Congolese Minister of Health, Professor George Middle has also announced the launch Friday of the second phase of the vaccination campaign, saying she only concern Brazzaville and Pointe- Black.

“In other regions, the second transition will occur from 8 December,” the minister said, praising a “coverage rate of 98%” for the first campaign.

On Monday, he had reported 460 cases to 195 deaths.

The vaccination campaign was started nationally on November 12 in Pointe-Noire. In Brazzaville and in other departments, it was held from November 18 to 22.

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