Five Polio Cases Reported in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar

Taliban health officials in Nangarhar have announced that five positive cases of polio, or infantile paralysis, have been recorded in the province since the start of the current calendar year.

According to the officials, the cases show that the risk of polio spreading among children remains and that regular vaccination is still needed. They stressed on Sunday, Aug. 25, the importance of administering the polio vaccine to prevent further outbreaks of the disease.

The Taliban’s public health department in Nangarhar has urged families to vaccinate their children under the age of five during every round of the polio vaccination campaign.

Polio is a viral, paralysing disease that mainly affects young children, and prevention is largely possible through vaccination. Nangarhar is one of Afghanistan’s eastern provinces, a region where cases of the disease have also been reported in previous years.