Three new cases of polio have been recorded in Syria in the first outbreak of the virus in the country since 2014, the World Health Organisation and a partner initiative said Friday (June 9th).
The new cases were registered in Deir Ezzor, the majority of which is controlled by the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIS) and where a siege of the capital has restricted access to basic goods, AFP reported.
An outbreak hit the province in 2013 and 2014, when 36 cases were reported, according to the Polio Global Irradication Initiative.
The new cases are from a different strain of the virus, WHO spokeswoman Sona Bari said Thursday.
"Although access to Deir Ezzor is compromised due to insecurity, the governorate has been partially reached by several vaccination campaigns against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases since the beginning of 2016," the initiative said. "Outbreak response plans are being finalised."
