WHO warns highly contagious disease could spread across region after finding 10 young children infected with virus

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

World Health Organisation has confirmed 10 polio cases in north-east Syria, the first confirmed outbreak in the country in 14 years, and warned that the disease could spread across the region.

Officials are awaiting laboratory results on another 12 cases that present polio symptoms, said a WHO spokesman, Oliver Rosenbauer.

Rosenbauer said the confirmed cases were babies and toddlers, all under two, who were "under-immunised."

Polio, a highly contagious virus, usually infects children in unsanitary conditions through the consumption of food or liquid contaminated with faeces. It can attack the nervous system, causing irreversible paralysis or even death.

"This is a communicable disease. With population movements it can travel to other areas," said Rosenbauer. "So the risk is high of spread across the region."

Syria launched a nationwide vaccination campaign last week, days after the Geneva-based WHO said it had received reports of children showing symptoms of polio in Deir al-Zour province, but the campaign faces difficulty due to lack of access in many parts of the war-torn country.

Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against the disease before the civil war began in March 2011. Polio was last reported in Syria in 1999.

The Syrian conflict has caused a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale, killing more than 100,000 people, and displacing almost seven million others.

UN officials have warned of the spread of disease in Syria because of lack of access to basic hygiene and vaccinations.