Polio has killed nearly 100 people, mainly young adults, in the Republic of Congo and paralysed more than twice as many in the past six weeks, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. The crippling viral disease normally strikes children under five years of age, making the acute, fast-spreading outbreak unusual, the UN agency said.
"Most of the cases have involved young adults aged between 15 and 29. This illustrates that populations are at risk because they have not been exposed to a full immunisation," it said. The death toll from the outbreak in the central African state is 97 with a further 226 people paralysed, and most victims are in the port city of Pointe Noire. The mortality rate is higher than normal for the disease, which attacks the nervous system.
The virus is now confirmed as having spread from Angola to Congo after spreading to the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier this year, WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer said. It comes from a strain from India, one of four remaining endemic countries, along with Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan. A first wave of mass polio vaccination campaigns, targeting 3 million people of all ages, is set to begin on Friday. "This way we can be assured that everybody is reached, including young adults, whose immunity may be low," said Luis Sambo, WHO's regional director for Africa.