Seven fresh cases of poliomyelitis have been confirmed in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State, northwest Nigeria, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported on Wednesday.

Hajiya Aisat Mega, a World Health Organization (WHO) official who supervised the third round of Immunization Plus Days (IPD) in the area, was quoted as saying that the new polio cases were traced to Yangaiya and neighboring villages.

She said the disease is being likely spread to the neighboring areas. However, she added, the IPD exercise in Jibia has been successful "due to effective community dialogue held in the area."

"We have held meetings with community heads, Ulamas and some influential people in each of the 11 wards of the area in order to facilitate effective enlightenment on the immunization exercise," she said.

The wild polio virus is being spread in northwest, north, northeast parts of Nigeria, with fresh cases of polio reported not only in Katsina, but also in Jigawa, Plateau and Kano.

Since the beginning of this year, Nigeria has spent 30 million U.S.dollars on polio vaccine procurement, said Edugie Abebe, interim national coordinator of Nigeria' National Program on Immunization (NPI).

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with a population of over 140 million, she said, was worst hit by poliomyelitis, recording more than 80 percent of the cases in the world.

The other countries in the world with a high incidence of the disease are India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, she added.

Source: Xinhua