Polio cases reported; area rejected vaccine

Sat., July 3, 2004

Associated Press

KANO, Nigeria – A suspected polio outbreak was reported Friday among children in a heavily Muslim Nigerian state that had boycotted immunizations campaigns.

Officials in the Kano state city of Rogo said there have been dozens of suspected polio cases in recent weeks.

The World Health Organization said it couldn’t confirm the outbreak until a team that it has sent to the area finishes an assessment.

Kano was on of several states in northern Nigeria that had shunned polio vaccination drives over suspicions the vaccines were part of a U.S.-led plot to render Muslims sterile.

WHO officials in Geneva said this week that they expected immunization to resume in Kano within days. Local officials in Kano have not yet publicly committed to a date.

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Polio cases reported; area rejected vaccine

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