The Central African Republic’s Health Minister Dr. Pierre Somse has announced the existence of two polio outbreaks in the country, specifically in the districts of Bambari (center) and Bimbo (south).
Speaking on national radio on Tuesday, the minister said children have had severe flaccid paralysis in these areas and the analysis of their faeces by the CAR laboratories suggest the existence of the polio virus.
Many children in these areas therefore have signs of paralysis of their lower limbs.
The minister appealed to parents to bring their children to health centers as soon as possible to be vaccinated against the virus, until other laboratories can definitively confirm the existence of the epidemic in the country.
In CAR, the polio vaccine is free and according to specialists, if only one case of polio is identified in a region, the Ministry of Health will declare the situation as an epidemic.
With the presence of the polio virus in the country, CAR has had three epidemics this year.
they were Hepatitis E in Bocaranga in the country’s North West and yellow fever in the central region of Sibut.
BB/te/fss/as/APA