Nigeria's urgent polio vaccination drive targets 25 million
Posted by Isaac Eranga Maiduguri - An emergency polio vaccination campaign aimed at reaching 25 million children this year has begun in parts of Nigeria newly freed from Boko Haram Islamic extremists, with fears that many more cases of the crippling disease will likely be found. Two toddlers discovered last month were Nigeria's first reported polio cases in more than two years, putting the world on alert just months after the African continent was declared free of the disease. One member of the Rotary Club's "End Polio Now" drive said he almost cried when he got the news. It was a major blow to global efforts to stamp out polio, which persists in only two other countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Associated Press joined the vaccination drive in northeastern Nigeria, a campaign going to extraordinary lengths to fight the disease in areas still threatened by Boko Haram extremists who violently oppose Western medicine. Health workers using military helicopters,