Polio has been reported in Venezuela, a crisis-wracked country where the disease had been eradicated decades ago, the Pan-American Health Organization reports. Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a crippling childhood disease caused by the poliovirus, and preventable through immunization. Doctor Jose Felix Oletta, a former Minister of Health, told AFP that the last case of acute poliomyelitis in Venezuela was reported in 1989.
“The virus especially affects people in conditions of malnutrition and unvaccinated,” Oletta said. Oletta slammed health authorities in President Nicolas Maduro’s government for taking more than a month to notify the PAHO that it had identified the virus. International health regulations require it to do so within 24 hours. READ MORE
