By NewsDesk   @bactiman63

In a follow-up on the polio situation in Sabah, Malaysia, the Ministry of Health reports two additional polio cases, bringing the case tally to three.

The first case was a three-month-old boy from Tuaran, Sabah reported on Dec. 8. The child is still being treated in the hospital’s isolation room with respiratory aid and is in stable condition.

Now, officials report two additional cases:

A 11-year-old non-resident boy who lives in Kinabatangan, Sabah. He had never been immunized. He had a fever on November 17, 2019 and had been receiving treatment at the clinic. On December 1, 2019, he was hospitalized after complaining of back pain and unable to walk. He can now walk with stairs.

An 8-year-old non-resident boy who lives in Sandakan, Sabah. He also never received any immunizations. On December 9, 2019, he had a fever and three days later he could not walk. He is still being treated with respiratory aid in the hospital.

On January 9, 2020, virus isolates in both cases were positively confirmed by the polio virus by the WHO Polio RRL.

The WHO Polio RRL laboratory test in Australia also found that the polio virus that infected all three cases had a genetic link to the polio case in the Philippines.

A thorough investigation has been conducted to determine the cause of the infection in both new cases once it has been identified as Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). To date, 705 residents of the two children have been searched and no other AFP cases have been detected.

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Polio epidemic control activities throughout Sabah are also being implemented. The Sabah Polio Immunization Campaign (KIPS 2019/2020) targeting all children under five (5) years across Sabah was started on December 27, 2019.