3 new polio cases found in Malawi: Health Ministry

By Moses Michael-Phiri

LILONGWE, Malawi (AA) - Three more polio cases have been found in Malawi, the Health Ministry said late Monday, bringing the total number of cases recorded this year to four.

The three new cases have been recorded in southern districts of Mwanza, Phalombe and Mulanje that border Mozambique.

“The ministry will intensify its efforts in surveillance of the disease. But for the three new cases, all are imported from Mozambique,” Adrian Chikumbe, the Health Ministry spokesman, told Anadolu Agency via telephone on Tuesday.

Malawi, a country with a population of about 18.5 million in southeastern Africa, declared a wild polio outbreak in February after a case was found in a 3-year-old girl – the first of its kind in Africa for more than five years.

Laboratory analysis at the time showed the strain detected in Malawi was linked to the one circulating in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan, the only country apart from Afghanistan where polio remains endemic.

Chikumbe said Malawi now has a “huge task” to fight the outbreak so that it is not labeled as a polio-endemic country.

“Despite that, all the cases are imported; we will ensure that there is no further spread of the virus as it has no cure. We do not want to go back to being labeled as a polio endemic country,” he said.

Malawi obtained a polio-free status in 2005.