KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- A fresh polio case was detected in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar, bringing the total cases to seven in the country, an official said Friday.
"The virus affecting an 11-month-old girl named Subhani, was found in Zhuwando Hadiro area of Arghandab district a couple of days ago, after a previously detected one in the neighboring Helmand province in late June," Abdul Shakoor Nasrat, who is in charge of Kandahar Immunity Vaccination Program, told Xinhua.
By the freshly found case, the polio cases reported in the country's southern zone has reached seven; one in Helmand and the remaining six in Kandahar province, bringing the total cases to 10 countrywide, the official added.
Earlier this month, Afghanistan Public Health Ministry, with the support of World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), launched a nationwide five-day campaign to give immunity vaccination dose to 9.9 million children under the age of five.
The ongoing insurgency and conflicts have been hindering the efforts to stamp out the infectious disease in the mountainous country as 1.2 million children from areas inaccessible to vaccination teams missed the latest drive.
