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Published on December 22, 2007

An epidemiologist and head of the WHO Thailand-based Southeast-Asian Regional Subunit for Alert and Response to Communicable Disease Outbreaks, Dr Maureen Birmingham, said 14 Burmese cases had been found this year, after the disease had been absent from that country since 2000. She said, however, that disease reporting in Burma was unreliable.

Burmese migrant workers could easily transmit the virus to Thailand, she said, as it can be passed on contact or through contaminated food and water.

She said that if Thailand health officials failed to prevent its spread here there could be an epidemic.

Birmingham advised the Public Health Ministry to draft a prevention plan to combat polio, which must include monitoring along the Thai-Burmese border.

Birmingham warned the country to be alert to carriers from other countries, such as India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the virus was still endemic.

The WHO reports that polio has re-emerged in seven countries, Chad, Congo, Niger, Sudan, Angola, Somalia and Burma. Carriers from these places can spread the disease when they travel, she said.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease. It attacks the nervous system, causing total paralysis in a matter of hours.

It can strike at any age but affects mainly children younger than three. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestines.

Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.

According to a WHO 2007 report, 765 infections were reported worldwide.

Deputy Public Health Minister Dr Morakot Kornkasem said the ministry would act to reduce the chances of an epidemic in Thailand.

It will embark on a prevention programme. As many as 3 million children aged five and younger will be vaccinated.

As many as 300,000 immigrant children aged 15 and younger from Burma, Laos and Cambodia will be vaccinated too.

Vaccinations will be administered next Wednesday and on January 23.

"The polio virus disappeared from Thailand 10 years ago. We expect, thanks to this programme, it will not reappear again," he said

He encouraged parents to bring children to the vaccinations.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

 The Nation