BBC The World Health Organisation has declared a polio outbreak in Papua New Guinea and called for an “immediate” vaccination campaign.
Samples of the highly infectious virus were found in two healthy children during a routine screening in Lae, a coastal city in the country’s north east.
Less than half of the country’s population are immunised against the potentially deadly disease, which is close to being wiped out but has recently resurfaced in some parts of the world.
“We have to do something about it and we have to do it immediately,” said Sevil Huseynova, WHO’s representative in Papua New Guinea, warning that the disease could spread beyond the country.