The United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF) has alerted the Nigerian government of the presence of nine cases of wild polio virus in the northwestern state of Zamfara.

Speaking at a signing ceremony of a program implementation agreement with the Nigerian government, UNICEF Assistant Representative in Nigeria Mahera Khatun stressed the need for the government to strengthen routine immunization as an entry point for effective health service delivery.

"Your support during the immunization plus days this year will go a long way in improving on immunization coverage in the northern parts of the country where wild polio is a common disease among children," said the UN official.

Khatun attributed the disease to inadequate and non-functional refrigerators for antigens in most local areas in the region. " Lack of funds for vaccine movement from local government also contributed largely to the existing problem in addition to reducing the routine immunization coverage by less than 30 percent, " she said.

According to Khatun, UNICEF has pledged to support the government with cash and logistics to the tune of 107.9 million naira (about 830,000 U.S. dollars).

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that chiefly affects children and in its acute forms causes paralysis, muscular atrophy and often deformity.

Between 1988 and 2004, global eradication efforts reduced the number of polio cases from 350,000 annually to 1,189 cases. In 2005, the number of cases rose again to 1,831 at the peak of the epidemic originating in northern Nigeria and infecting 21 previously polio-free countries between 2003 and 2005.

Source: Xinhua