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 A three-month-old infant was diagnosed with polio on Dec. 6 after
being admitted to hospital with a fever and muscle weakness, the
first such case since 1992.
It comes after the Philippines, north of Borneo, reported its first
cases of polio since 1993 in September.
Malaysia's health ministry had said the child was infected with a
polio strain that shared genetic links with the virus detected in
the Philippines.
"We are planning to work with the United Nations Children's Fund,
UNICEF, to get vaccine supply at a low cost for an immunization
program for non-citizen children in Sabah," Director-General of
Health Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.
Noor Hisham said the plan is to have UNICEF subsidize the cost of
the vaccines, and to administer the vaccinations with the help of
selected non-governmental organizations and the Philippines
government.
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No new cases have been detected so far, though authorities are still
waiting for the results of stool samples taken from people who had
close contact with the infant and the surrounding area where the
child lived, Noor Hisham said.
"The health ministry would like to stress that the best way to
eradicate polio is through immunization. Contagious diseases such as
polio know no boundaries," Noor Hisham said.
(Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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