Patna, August 26: The polio virus has spread to other parts of the country from Bihar in 2008 and in the first few months of 2009.
“The virus was exported from Bihar to other parts as genes found in the polio virus of Bihar and other parts are similar,” Hemant Shukla, team leader of Bihar unit of WHO’s National Polio Surveillance Project said today.
A total of 236 cases of polio were detected in the country so far this year out of which 181 cases were found in Uttar Pradesh, 49 in Bihar, four in Delhi and one each in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, Shukla said while making a presentation on polio at a workshop organised by UNICEF here.
So far 49 cases of polio have come to light in Bihar, of which eight were from the Kosi region, he said.
Shukla said the Bihar government had formulated a Kosi operations plan to eradicate polio which was underway.
The number of people refusing to get their babies administered polio drops in Bihar was less in comparison to western Uttar Pradesh, he said.
Around 5000-60000 households in the state refused to administer polio drops to their children due to some reasons or the other, which included 2000 in Patna.
Till 1988, around 125 countries were affected by the polio virus but the situation has improved considerably.
—Agencies