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                           UN Confirms Polio in Syria

   by VOA News

   The World Health Organization says it has confirmed 10 cases of polio
   among young children in northeastern Syria.
   A spokesman for the U.N. health agency said Tuesday officials are
   examining 12 other children who have shown polio symptoms.
   The confirmed cases involve babies and toddlers who are not believed to
   have received full polio vaccinations.
   Polio is a highly infections disease that can be transmitted through
   food and water. Syria has not had an outbreak of polio since 1999, but
   the WHO warned earlier this month that the country was at high risk
   because of its ongoing crisis.
   More than two years of fighting in Syria has strained basic services in
   some areas and forced more than a quarter of the country's population
   to leave their homes.
   The WHO spokesman cautioned Tuesday that because polio can spread from
   person to person, movements of populations can bring it to other areas,
   bringing a high risk of spreading it to other parts of the region.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/un-confirms-polio-in-syria/1779005.ht
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/un-confirms-polio-in-syria/1779005.html