Israel says latest polio spread contained

JERUSALEM: The Israeli Ministry of Health has announced that it has stopped the latest spread of the poliovirus in the country.

In early March, the first case of polio since 1989 was detected in Israel, which recorded eight more cases by April. In one of the cases, a four-year-old child was paralyzed by the infection, Xinhua news agency reported.

Following this, the ministry launched a nationwide vaccination campaign for children and adolescents up to the age of 17.

On Thursday, Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of public health services at the health ministry, said that the vaccination campaign has led to the disappearance of polio in Israel in recent weeks.

She noted that for more than a month, no poliovirus has been detected in the sewer systems, and there is no more evidence of positive stool samples.

The vaccination rate at the sensitive ages of six weeks to 18 months reached 99 per cent, and in all ages up to 17 was 85 per cent, she noted.

The ministry announced that from now on, the vaccination campaign will only cover children up to the age of six.