YANGON: Myanmar has reported a new outbreak of polio near the border with Bangladesh, the second time the disease has been detected in this impoverished country in one year, state media reported on Wednesday. Tests by the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the existence of the virus in western Rakhine state, the New Light of Myanmar said, but the paper did not reveal how many people had contracted the crippling disease. The newspaper blamed the re-emergence on “certain neighbouring countries which still have the virus. ”There is no cure for polio, which can cause permanent disability or death, but it has been largely eradicated by a comprehensive vaccine program, with worldwide cases dropping from 350,000 in 1988 to 1,912 in 2006.

Polio remain endemic in just four countries — India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan — according to WHO. Myanmar was officially declared polio-free in 2000, but in June last year an 18-month-old boy was diagnosed with the virus near the central city of Mandalay.

WHO and UNICEF officials met Health Minister Kyaw Myint on Tuesday to discuss how to curb the spread of polio, the New Light of Myanmar said.—AFP