1st polio case surfaces in Malaysia after 27 years

Malaysia began a vaccination campaign in a rural town on Borneo Island after a 3-month-old boy was confirmed to have polio in the country’s first case of the highly infectious virus in 27 years. Malaysia is the second Asian country to have reported a polio case after an outbreak in the Philippines in September. The World Health Organization says polio, which has been largely eradicated, remains endemic in only Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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Malaysia’s last polio case occurred in 1992 and the country was declared polio-free in 2000. The health ministry said the strain was believed to have originated from a weakened virus contained in oral polio vaccine that was excreted from the body through feces and possibly spread in an unsanitary environment to those who haven’t been immunized.