Kinshasa - The 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,” DRC 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.
The DRC appeared to have stamped out polio after reporting no new cases between 2000 and 2005. But the virus has gradually crept back, with cases reported each year since 2006.
Congo-Brazzaville has reported 409 cases and 169 deaths since October.
Polio, which normally affects children, has spread again in recent years in a setback to global attempts to eradicate the crippling and sometimes lethal disease. - Sapa-AFP