Tajikistan Kicks Off Polio Vaccination Campaign

Tajikistan is launching a nationwide polio vaccination campaign in response to the first outbreak of the disease in the country in more than a decade.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said an outbreak of the disease has killed 12 people since March.

Thirty-two cases of polio have been confirmed and 171 cases of acute flaccid paralysis, the primary symptom of polio, recorded.

UNICEF has supplied 4 million doses of polio vaccine to Tajikistan, where the mass vaccination that begins on May 1 is due to take place through June.

The last case of polio previously detected in Tajikistan was in 1997.

compiled from agency reports