A state of emergency has been declared in Egypt’s Alexandria and Cairo after authorities found spread of polio virus in the two cities, reportedly transferred to the country from Pakistan. Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Polio Monitoring Cell in Pakistan has directed all provincial governments to set up polio counters at airports and all internal and external routes across the country. In a joint statement, World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Polio Monitoring Cell have termed this situation as critical and alarming for the anti-polio campaign in Pakistan. The statement further adds that children under the age of five would not be allowed to leave Pakistan without having had polio drops. On the other hand, emergency has been imposed in Alexandria and Cairo cities of Egypt where anti-polio drive would soon be launched for 3 million children. Before this recent outbreak, Egypt had been polio free since 2004.
