[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.34]this is the Health Report.
[00:05.02]The World Health Organization has declared
[00:08.68]the Pakistani city of Peshawar the world's
[00:11.92]"largest reservoir" of endemic polio virus.
[00:16.86]And WHO officials fear Pakistanis
[00:20.70]could face travel restrictions
[00:23.56]unless steps are taken immediately
[00:25.58]to stop the disease from spreading.
[00:28.38]Researchers studied all the cases of
[00:31.35]poliomyelitis in Pakistan last year.
[00:34.51]The researchers found that almost every case
[00:38.05]could be linked genetically to the polio virus
[00:41.70]often reported in Peshawar.
[00:44.14]They added that all test samples
[00:47.28]collected from different parts of the city
[00:49.96]have shown the presence of the highly infections virus.
[00:54.46]Polio mainly affects children under 5 years of age.
[00:58.75]The virus is passed through food or water.
[01:02.55]The virus reproduces in the body
[01:05.79]and later invades the nerve system.
[01:08.75]The disease can sometimes lead to paralysis
[01:12.77]with loss of muscle control in part of the body.
[01:16.67]The WHO study found that 90 percent of Pakistan's Polio cases
[01:23.10]could be linked to the virus in Peshawar.
[01:26.43]In addition, 12 of the 13 polio cases in Afghanistan
[01:31.77]were also linked to the city.
[01:34.46]Elias Durry serves as the WHO's emergency coordinator
[01:40.55]for polio in Pakistan.
[01:42.87]He says local officials need to take urgent action
[01:47.32]to strengthen vaccination campaigns.
[01:49.93]He says the situation in Peshawar not only threatens
[01:54.61]the gains Pakistan has made against Polio,
[01:58.18]but could also harm international efforts to stop the disease.
[02:04.10]"Unless the polio eradication program in Pakistan
[02:06.49]is able to curtail the transmission in Peshawar,
[02:09.72]the expansion of the viruses to other places will not stop.
[02:13.45]So, it is critical that Peshawar,
[02:15.48]the way it is behaving now,
[02:17.71]really be able to find ways of interrupting these transmissions
[02:22.66]that have been consistent throughout the years," said Durry.
[02:26.09]He also noted an increase in deadly attacks
[02:30.41]on vaccination campaign workers
[02:32.87]in and around Peshawar and in other areas.
[02:36.96]Taliban militants often attack polio workers in Pakistan.
[02:42.86]The militants accuse them of being American spies
[02:46.91]or part of a plot to keep Muslims from having babies.
[02:52.17]Most of the attacks have taken place in Peshawar
[02:55.77]because the city is close to the country's tribal districts.
[02:59.83]Extremist groups have bases in those areas.
[03:04.20]Elias Durry did not reject the possibility of other countries
[03:09.33]ordering travel and visa restrictions on Pakistan
[03:13.56]if there is no quick improvement in the situation.
[03:17.03]In neighboring India, no polio cases have been reported
[03:22.42]for the past 3 years.
[03:25.36]Starting this month, all visitors to India from Pakistan
[03:30.00]are required to show a record of their polio vaccination.
[03:35.06]And that's the Health Report from VOA Learning English.