Kenya has reported four new cases of polio and one related event, raising the total to five confirmed incidents.
The cases were identified among healthy children in the Kakuma Refugee Camp located in Turkana West sub-county.
The Ministry of Health indicated that the first case emerged during routine screenings of new arrivals, while the additional cases were discovered through follow-up investigations.
In response, the government is set to launch a vaccination campaign starting on Monday, targeting nine high-risk counties: Nairobi, Machakos, Kiambu, Kajiado, Busia, Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia, West Pokot, and Turkana.
The campaign will focus on vaccinating children under 10 years in Busia, Bungoma, Trans-Nzoia, West Pokot, and Turkana, while select sub-counties in Machakos, Kajiado, and Kiambu will target children under five.
The identified sub-counties in Machakos include Athi River, Mavoko, Kangundo, and Matungulu, while Kajiado will focus on Kajiado East and North, and Kiambu will cover Thika, Juja, Kiambu Town, Kabete, Kiambaa, and Kikuyu.
These areas were selected due to the recent detection of a polio event in Eastleigh, Nairobi, prompting heightened surveillance.
Polio is a highly infectious disease targeted for global eradication, and even a single confirmed case is treated as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
It spreads mainly through the fecal-oral route, affecting primarily children under five.
The Ministry of Health is implementing a Polio Endgame Strategy aimed at achieving over 95% vaccination coverage, with the goal of vaccinating 4.3 million children in the identified high-risk counties.
Monitoring and environmental surveillance are ongoing to combat this public health threat, emphasizing the importance of community involvement in vaccination efforts to ensure their effectiveness and accessibility.
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