DR Congo reports 63 cases of polio: minister

[Gert van der Hoek]

Two countries in Africa are called "Congo".

Light Green: Republic of the Congo
Dark Geen : Democratic Republic of the Congo

november 25, 2010

DR Congo reports 63 cases of polio: minister

KINSHASA — Democratic Republic of Congo warned that it risked a major resurgence of polio after discovering 63 cases of the virus this year, its health minister said on Thursday.

The warning came after neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville earlier this month said an epidemic had killed 169 people since October, a decade after the disease was considered to have been eradicated there.

"The country is aware of a resurgence of polio cases and the threat is coming from neighbouring countries," DR Congo's health minister Victor Makwenge told a news conference.

"From the start of the year until November 23, the country has registered a total of 63 cases of paralysis from type 1 polio, with zero deaths," he said.

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[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: DR Congo reports 63 cases of polio: minister

machinetranslated

In a press briefing: Victor Makwenge urges people to observe hygiene rules

The Health Minister Victor Makwenge Kaput yesterday held a press conference at the Grand Hotel in Kinshasa. Was to clarify media professionals in the capital Kinshasa on the situation of the polio epidemic that currently prevails in DR Congo. The minister was surrounded by representatives of UNICEF and WHO. On entering the game, the minister gave a speech Makwenge to decide the node of the meeting. Speaking, he said that the country (DRC) is currently experiencing a resurgence of polio cases and that threats have been reported in neighboring countries.

In his speech, the minister at first defined the disease while exhibiting characteristics. He also established the development program for the eradication of polio worldwide and the DRC.

Thus, the Minister Victor Makwenge said that the polio virus has been reintroduced in the DRC since February 2006 from Angola .

He explained that since the beginning of the year until November, there were 63 cases of paralysis due to polio-free death throughout the national territory. Including 50 cases in Kasai-Occidental, 9 in Bandundu province, 3 in Kalemie in Katanga and one case in South Kivu.

Makwenge says, the disease affects mainly children under 15 years.

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[Gert van der Hoek]

Re: DR Congo reports 63 cases of polio: minister

UN calls for ceasefire in Congo to expedite vaccinations following polio outbreak

Sunday 5 December 2010

As polio reappears in 12 African countries, Unicef officials appeal for fighting to stop in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo so that an ambitious vaccination programme can proceed.

United Nations officials have called for an immediate ceasefire in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to allow vaccinations to reach millions of children who are threatened by a sudden epidemic of polio.

The aggressive return of the contagious paralysing virus comes just five years after it was declared eradicated in most of the world. It marks a major setback in the race to make polio only the third disease, after smallpox and the cattle virus rinderpest, to be eradicated.

In the wake of an outbreak earlier this year of so-called wild poliovirus, the first round of an unprecedented vaccination campaign aimed at 72 million children under five was launched in 15 African countries in November.

But vaccination teams have struggled to reach children in war zones, such as eastern DRC, where government forces, the Rwandan army and militias are fighting. "We are calling on all parties to the conflict to respect the vaccination days and cease fighting," said Pierrette Vu Thi, who represents Unicef, the United Nations children's fund, in the DRC. "All children have the same right to health."

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