Polio case prompts medical emergency in Angola

JOHANNESBURG — The U.N. says a medical emergency has been declared in northern Angola following confirmation a 14-month-old boy has contracted a new wild polio virus.

In a statement Thursday, the U.N. children and health agencies said the boy lives in an isolated region in Uige province along the Congolese border.

Angola launched its first targeted border immunization campaign last month and a second campaign is scheduled for November.

UNICEF Angola Representative Dr. Koenraad Vanormelingen says health workers are "very close to interrupting transmission in Angola."

But he says, "As long as there is a single case of wild polio virus anywhere in the world, any unimmunized child is at risk."