Polio at Mecca sparks fear for Muslims thousands

[bemildred]

An outbreak of polio that reached Mecca in Saudi Arabia just as two and half million Muslims converged on the holy city last month for the haj has sparked fears that returning pilgrims could spread the disease around the world.

World Health Organisation officials said yesterday they were stepping up surveillance and vaccinations from west Africa to east Asia in response.

Dr Bruce Aylward, who is leading the WHO's polio eradication programme, and has monitored the outbreak from its source in Nigeria in 2003, said the next month would be critical.

"If it gets into an area of low coverage then boom! We have an outbreak," he told The Independent from Geneva.


Independent.UK