WHO Confirms First Polio Case In Iraq In 14 Years

News outlets report on a case of polio detected in Iraq, the country’s first in 14 years.

IRIN: Displacement, violence likely cause of Iraq’s first polio case in 14 years
“Health officials in Iraq are stepping up polio immunization and surveillance following the first confirmed case of the virus in the country in more than a decade…” (3/24).

The National: Six-month-old boy is Iraq’s first polio case in 14 years
“The World Health Organization has confirmed Iraq’s first polio case in 14 years after a baby boy in Baghdad who developed paralysis tested positive for the virus. The government in Baghdad has yet to publicly acknowledge the outbreak, although a mass immunization and surveillance campaign is already underway in a bid to contain the highly contagious but easily preventable disease…” (Redvers, 3/24).

TIME: Iraq Sees First Confirmed Case of Polio In 14 Years
“Iraq has reported its first confirmed case of polio in 14 years, and the World Health Organization said displacement caused by the ongoing violence in the Anbar Province of Iraq and Syria may be to blame…” (Rhodan, 3/24).

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