Eleven new cases of polio have been found in Indonesia, putting the total number of the crippling disease to 122, the Indonesian branch of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

Spokesperson Sari Setiogi told Xinhua by telephone that the new cases were found among the blood samples taken from children who had not got immunization.

"Eleven new cases were found today, bringing the total to 122 cases," she said.

But she gave no details on where the samples were taken.

The Indonesian government has been launching a massive polio vaccination in recent days, targeting 6.4 million children in provinces of West Java, Banten and Jakarta.

The spokesman said that the number of infected children in Indonesia could rise as more blood samples were tested for children whom had never got vaccination.

The government once declared free of the disease in 1995, but it re-emerged in May in Indonesia. The first case was spotted in West Java province's Sukabumi Regency, about 100 km from Jakarta.

The virus of the disease in Indonesia is reported to similar with those found in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Indonesian health ministry said that the virus may have been transferred by migrant workers or Haj pilgrims who visited Saudi Arabia before returning to Indonesia.

Source: Xinhua