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Polio-free countries can still be at risk

ATLANTA, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Countries free from polio remain at risk of wild poliovirus from an infected person from a country that still harbors the disease, U.S. officials say.

A report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says in 2009, all but one of the importation-related wild poliovirus outbreaks seemed to have been interrupted, but new importations occurred in 2010.

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In 2010, the first wild poliovirus importation occurred in the World Health Organization European Region since the region was certified polio-free in 2002, the report says.

The importation of wild poliovirus resulted in a large-scale outbreak in Tajikistan that involved 458 cases, with 18 more polio cases in Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan, the report says.

"All polio-free countries are advised to maintain high vaccination coverage and sensitive surveillance systems at all times," CDC officials say in a statement. "Should wild poliovirus importation be recognized, health authorities need to rapidly institute supplementary immunization activities to limit wild poliovirus spread and interrupt outbreaks so that Global Polio Eradication is achieved."

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