Pakistani Jihadists Behind Polio Outbreak in Syria: Syrian Minister A Syrian government minister said Sunday that foreign jihadists who have come to the country to wage jihad are responsible for the outbreak of polio in the rebel-controlled north. Last week, the United Nations health agency confirmed 10 polio cases in northeast Syria, the first confirmed outbreak of the disease in the country in 14 years, raising a risk of it spreading across the region. The confirmed cases are among babies and toddlers, all under the age of 2, who were under-immunized, according to the World Health Organization. The agency is awaiting lab results on another 12 cases showing polio symptoms. Minister of Social Affairs Kindah al-Shammat told The Associated Press on Sunday that jihadis from Pakistan were to blame. The virus originates in Pakistan and has been brought to Syria by the jihadists who come from Pakistan, the minister said. Pakistan is one of three countries where polio remains endemic. Al-Shammat said the government has launched an immunization campaign to protect all children in Syria. She did not say if and how the vaccination campaign will proceed in the northern areas along the border with Turkey, which are controlled by anti-government Islamist militants. Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against polio before the conflict began more than 2 1/2 years ago. The polio virus, a highly contagious disease, usually infects children in unsanitary conditions through the consumption of food or liquid contaminated with feces. It attacks the nerves and can kill or paralyze, and can spread widely and unnoticed before it starts crippling children. The disease was last reported in Syria in 1999.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 22:59:13 +0000
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