A case of polio has been reported in Venezuela, where the disease was eradicated near 30 years ago.

The Pan-American Health Organization said a polio-afflicted child who had not been vaccinated lived in under-immunized, extremely impoverished Delta Amacuro state.

Poliomyelitis is a crippling childhood disease caused by a virus that is preventable through immunization.

Jose Felix Oletta, a former minister of health, said the last case of acute poliomyelitis in Venezuela was reported in 1989.

"The virus affects especially people in conditions of malnutrition," added Oletta, who slammed health authorities in President Nicolas Maduro's government for taking more than a month to notify the PAHO it had identified the virus.

International health regulations require it to do so within 24 hours.

Venezuela, devastated by economic and political crises, also accounted for 85 percent of cases of measles across Latin America and the Caribbean over the past year, the PAHO said.

Of 11 countries that reported cases, Venezuela had the overwhelming majority - 1,427 out of 1,685 - and that included 35 deaths since mid-2017. And this year there have been cases in 17 out of 23 Venezuelan states and in the capital, Caracas.

In neighboring countries where Venezuelans have migrated due to grim conditions, many reported cases have been among Venezuelan immigrants.

Venezuela says it does not have 85 percent of basic medical supplies it needs including vaccines, blaming US sanctions. But on April 6 it launched a new vaccine campaign against 14 diseases, including measles and tuberculosis.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE