A “high alert” for polio has been declared by the Telangana govt after an active strain of the wild polio virus (P2 strain) was found in the samples of sewage water in the state capital Hyderabad. The finding came as a shock as it was only in 2014 that India was declared “polio-free” by the WHO. This finding has persuaded the govt to airlift around two lakh vaccines from Geneva to innoculate more than three lakh children in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district as a “preventive measure”. The strain was found in the sewage sample taken from the Amberpet sewerage treatment plant on May 17, during routine surveillance after 30 samples were taken various parts of the city.
An official of the National Health Mission, Telangana said, “In this case, the P2 strain is vaccine derived. Someone vaccinated 10 months back to a year back released the strain through stool. Such rare cases happen if the…
