Via Xinhua: China retains "polio-free" status: WHO. Excerpt:
A commission under the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in Beijing on Thursday that China has retained its polio-free status, after successfully combating a severe outbreak in 2011.
After more than 10 years of being labeled as a "polio-free" country,China confirmed four cases of wild poliovirus infection in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Aug. 25, 2011.
Upon request, WHO labs later found the poliovirus was imported from neighboring Pakistan, where the disease remains endemic.
The Chinese government promptly launched emergency response plans and a massive vaccination campaign, according to a report issued Thursday at the closing session of the four-day 18th meeting of the WHO Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication.
China's Ministry of Health confirmed that over 43 million people in Xinjiang had been vaccinated.
The last case was reported on Oct. 9, 2011, taking the total count to 21, including two deaths, according to the ministry.
