No fewer than 25 children have been inflicted with the wild polio virus in the northern part of the country in 2013, an official has said.
Mr Bolaji Buari, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Consultant on Vaccine Security and Logistics, said on Friday at Tegina town in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger.
Buari spoke during the commencement of the 5th round of Immunisation Plus Days (IPDs) in the state as part of effort to stem the scourge.
“There are 25 new cases of wild polio virus discovered in nine states from northern part of the country,’’ he said.
He said among the states found with new cases of the wild polio virus, Borno had the highest recorded case of 10 new cases.
Niger and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the lowest record of one case each.
Other states include, Adamawa, Kano, Gombe, Nasarawa, Bauchi and Yobe with no figures given.
Buari said that routine immunisation exercise was still poor, adding that environmental sanitation was also poor as people defecate carelessly around the environment.
In his address, Gov. Babangida Aliyu, said Nigeria was among the only three countries still plague by the virus.
“We must, therefore, work hard collectively to remove the tag of polio endemic nation on Nigeria and fly the banner of a polio-free country just like India did few years ago,’’ he said.
