New polio cases on the decline , says UNICEF

The spread of the polio virus has declined sharply in Nigeria, the UN Children's Fund reported this week. It said 57 cases of poliomyelitis were recorded in 2001 against 2,000 in the previous year. Nine cases had so far been recorded this year from a surveillance of 12 of Nigeria's 36 states, UNICEF added in a statement made available to IRIN on Thursday. "Interruption of viral transmission in 2002 is possible, but will require tremendously well-coordinated efforts," Tom Mshindi, the UNICEF Nigeria spokesman, said in the statement. Both "genetic and epidemiological evidence" pointed to a drop in the spread of the polio virus, he said. UNICEF reported that more than 200 million doses of oral polio vaccines were used in five rounds of vaccination in 2001, in which about 40 million children under five years were immunised against the virus. It added that over 95 percent coverage was achieved in Nigeria which, with 120 million inhabitants, is Africa's most populous country. Nigeria is one of the world's three remaining reservoirs of the polio virus, the others being India and Pakistan.