WHO Confirms 3 Additional Cases Of Polio In Syria, Links Outbreak To Strain From Pakistan

“[T]he number of confirmed cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) have increased by three in the Syrian Arab Republic, bringing the total cases confirmed in the war-torn country to 13,” the Global Dispatch reports (11/11). The outbreak in Syria “has been confirmed as being caused by a strain of the virus that originated in Pakistan and is spreading across the Middle East, the [WHO] said,” Reuters adds (Nebehay, 11/11). “Closely related wild poliovirus strains have also been detected in environmental samples in Israel, (the) West Bank and Gaza Strip since February 2013,” the WHO said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (11/12). “The WHO also warned against the rapid spread of the virus, saying, ‘The risk of further international spread of wild poliovirus type 1 across the region is considered to be high,'” Press TV reports (11/12).

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