Health officials on polio alert

Health officials at district level in northwestern South Africa have been put on "red alert" to prevent the spread of polio from neighbouring Botswana, a government spokesperson told IRIN. Southern Africa recorded its first case of polio in more than a decade when the disease was reported in Botswana earlier this year. "Because of the proximity of our province to Botswana, district health officials have been told to watch out for any signs of the illness," said Barba Gaoganediwe, a health spokesperson for the North West province. "We have also noticed that the number of children coming in for inoculation to prevent polio had dropped in recent years. We are now taking urgent steps to ensure that all children are inoculated, particularly in the districts located along the border with Botswana," Gaoganediwe added. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Botswana stopped conducting mass polio immunisation in early 2000, after recording its last case in 1991. The country has now launched an emergency immunisation campaign, following the case reported in Februrary. Botswana is the ninth previously polio-free country in Africa to become reinfected in the past 18 months, due to an ongoing outbreak of polio originating in northern Nigeria, said WHO.