33 million kids vaccinated against polio in southern Africa

By FARAI MUTSAKA
Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The World Health Organization says that more than 33 million children in several southern African countries have been vaccinated against polio, part of ongoing efforts to eradicate the infectious paralytic disease that has been largely contained in much of the world. About 80 million drops of the inoculation have been placed in the mouths of children across Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe since the launch of an emergency response in March last year. Malawi detected the wild poliovirus disease in a child in its capital, Lilongwe, in February last year — the first time the strain was reported in Africa in five years. The virus spread to neighboring Mozambique, causing neighboring countries to be on alert.