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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tempers Rise Over Zaire Polio Outbreak

Compiled From Wire Services

Zaire’s health minister and UNICEF blamed each other Thursday for a polio outbreak that has caused paralysis in about 600 people in one city.

The minister, Dr. Mbumb Musong, accused UNICEF of sitting on hundreds of thousands of dollars donated by European governments in the past year to buy polio vaccines.

“If UNICEF had sent the vaccines on time, there would never have been an epidemic,” he told a press conference.

In Geneva, a UNICEF official denied the charge, saying 460,000 doses of polio vaccine had been sent to the stricken city of MbujiMayi last month, but health officials apparently didn’t use it.