Polio detected in Mali after being imported from Ebola-hit Guinea

LONDON – The World Health Organization says a child has been paralyzed by polio which was detected in Mali.

It is the first case of polio in Mali since 2011 and WHO says the 19-month-old child was stricken in Guinea before arriving in Bamako. In a statement issued this week, WHO said the polio strain responsible for the new outbreak is derived from the vaccine. In very rare cases, the live polio virus can mutate into a form capable of sparking new cases.

WHO said the risk of polio spreading further is “deemed high” and blamed the outbreak on low vaccination rates in Guinea, which is still battling Ebola.

Last week, WHO announced a similar polio outbreak in Ukraine, also caused by a mutated strain from the vaccine.