Polio Re-emerges in the Philippines After Nearly Two Decades

(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines has reported its first case of polio in almost two decades, prompting health authorities to declare an epidemic and mount a mass immunization drive.

A three-year-old girl from the southern province of Lanao del Sur was the first confirmed polio case in the Philippines since 2000, when the Southeast Asian nation was declared free from the infectious disease, the Department of Health said in a statement Thursday.

Poliovirus, which causes the crippling and potentially fatal disease, has also been detected in water samples from Manila and Davao. A single confirmed case or two positive samples from different locations is considered an epidemic in a polio-free country, the Health Department said.

The government will launch a mass oral polio vaccination drive for children under 5 years old starting next month.

“Aside from immunization, we remind the public to practice good hygiene,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque, warning that polio spreads rapidly either through direct contact or food and water contamination.

Last month, the Southeast Asian nation declared a dengue epidemic after hundreds of people died and as a ban on a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease remains in effect.

Read: Sanofi’s Dengue Vaccine Banned in Philippines Amid Setbacks

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