Sudan polio campaign targets 8 million children

KHARTOUM - More than 8 million Sudanese children will be vaccinated against polio, health officials said on Monday, following the country's first case of the disease in more than two years.

A two-year-old boy from the war-torn Darfur region was found paralysed by the virus last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

"This is a disease that cripples children," said the WHO's Sudan representative, Mohammad Abdur Rab.

"We can't take any chances with it."

Sudan had previously been declared polio-free, with no cases reported since August 2005.

Health teams are hoping to reach every child under five. The first round of vaccinations, organised by the WHO, U.N. children's agency UNICEF and the Sudanese Health Ministry, is due to start on Tuesday.

The boy was discovered in southern Darfur, which received only patchy coverage in the national polio campaign in August.

Initial research suggested the disease spread over the nearby border with Chad.

Polio is a highly infectious virus that targets young children, spreading through contaminated food and water. It can paralyse sufferers within hours and cause death when breathing muscles are affected.

Health campaigners had originally hoped to eradicate polio globally by 2000. But their efforts have been hampered by poor health coverage in parts of Africa, and so small outbreaks have persisted.