New polio cases in Kenya

New cases of polio have been recorded in Kenya, according to health officials in the country.

There have been 13 new cases of the virus within the past three months, despite the disease previously being eradicated 25 years ago.

An emergency nationwide vaccination drive was launched in February following the outbreak of a rare wild polio case.

However, Shahnaaz Sharif, the public health director, suggested that routine polio immunisation is poor and this has led to the outbreak.

He also claimed that the February case is believed to have been imported from southern Sudan, while the new cases are in the northern district of Turkana, which borders Somalia and Ethiopia.

There are only four countries in the world that are endemic with polio, namely India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria, which is the worst affected country.

Contaminated food and water is the main cause of polio and the virus can lead to paralysis and even death.

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