OST Bureau

Bhubaneswar, Feb 6:

In line with the advisory issued by the Government of India, the Odisha government has asked international travellers to and from seven polio prone countries to take oral polio vaccine (OPV). Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Kenya, Syria and Ethiopia are the seven identified countries, said official sources.

The advisory asks international travellers both coming in and going to these countries to take a dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV). The advisory says the dose should be ideally taken at least four weeks before travel to these countries irrespective of age or previous vaccination status.

Health secretary P K Mohapatra said a certificate of vaccination after administration of OPV will be issued to each traveller in the attached format signed by the designated officer. The certificate will be valid for a period of one year from the date of vaccination, he added.

Mohapatra said the advisory was aimed at preventing import of polio virus to the state adding that letters had been issued to all district collectors and chief district medical officers in this regard.

It may be noted that India has not reported any case of Wild Polio Virus since January 2011 and is likely to be certified polio-free very soon by World Health Organisation.

The Health secretary said the wild polio virus continued to circulate in the three endemic countries of Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan as well as some erstwhile polio free countries with recent import of polio virus like Somalia, Kenya, Syria and Ethiopia.