Kenya declares polio outbreak with 14 cases reported in Garissa County, Nairobi

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Kenya confirmed a polio outbreak on Thursday, raising concerns about the contagious disease's resurgence in the country after a decade, prompting the government in Nairobi to announce the launch of emergency vaccination campaigns in high-risk areas, targeting more than 7.5 million children in affected counties.

Fourteen cases of polio have been confirmed as of Jan. 27, with reports of virus transmission in communities that have yet to be documented, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said in a statement.

All cases have been detected in Garissa County, which is located in northeastern Kenya, as well as in the capital Nairobi, he added.

Earlier in the day, Mwaura said at a press conference in Nairobi that the government is tackling polio in the country, as several cases have been reported in various parts.

Polio is a crippling and potentially fatal disease caused by the poliovirus, which spreads from person to person and can infect a body's spinal cord, resulting in paralysis. According to the World Health Organization, the virus primarily affects children under the age of five and can cause irreversible paralysis in just a few hours.

"Some parts of the country are currently experiencing outbreaks of polio," Mwaura said, adding that the polio cases were reported as a result of some people catching poliovirus from a neighboring country while traveling.

He said the government has planned to launch emergency vaccination campaigns in high-risk areas, with a target population of 7,683,235 children from affected counties.

Kenya successfully eradicated wild poliovirus in 2014 and was declared polio-free.

This comes as a blow to the global fight against polio, as several African countries are currently battling outbreaks.

Though Nigeria has been the epicenter of polio in Africa for so long, there have been reports of cases in Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, and Somalia.