Previously eradicated, polio makes comeback in Malaysia after nearly three decades

Zurairi Ar
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Health Ministry today confirmed the first case of polio in Malaysia, 27 years since the potentially deadly disease was eradicated from the country. — Picture courtesy of Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah
Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Health Ministry today confirmed the first case of polio in Malaysia, 27 years since the potentially deadly disease was eradicated from the country. — Picture courtesy of Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 — The Ministry of Health announced today that it has confirmed the first case of polio in Malaysia, 27 years since the potentially deadly disease was eradicated from the country.

In a statement, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the case involved a three-month-old Malaysian male infant from Tuaran, Sabah, who was admitted following a fever.

The infant was confirmed as being infected with vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 on December 6.

Malaysia last had a polio case in 1992, before it was declared polio-free in 2000 together with other Western Pacific region countries.

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