JALALABAD, Afghanistan, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Afghanistan has reported five polio cases after a child under five years old was diagnosed with the crippling disease in the country's eastern Nangarhar province, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Afghanistan has confirmed.
The case has been registered in Dur Baba district of Nangarhar province, Kamal Shah Sayed, head of the communications department of UNICEF Polio Eradication Program in Afghanistan, told media.
"The disease is feared to spread to other parts of the province and efforts were underway to check it," the official said.
Four cases of the crippling virus have earlier been recorded in Kot, Bati Kot, Nazian and Behsud districts of the province.
Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only countries in the world where wild polio is still endemic.
According to reports, two cases of poliovirus were reported in Afghanistan in 2022 and four cases in 2021, while a total of 56 cases of the illness were recorded in 2020 in the war-ravaged country. ■
