Polio is back in Indonesia, sparking vaccination campaign

By RISKA MUNAWARAH and NINIEK KARMINI
Associated Press

PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia has begun vaccinating children for the polio virus in the country’s conservative province after four were infected with the highly contagious disease that was declared eliminated less than a decade ago. The virus was first detected in October in a 7-year-old boy suffering from partial paralysis in the province of Aceh, and since then three other cases have been detected. Monday’s mass immunization campaign aims to vaccinate some 1.2 million children. Hampering the effort especially in rural areas of the conservative province are false rumors that the polio vaccine contains pork or alcohol, prohibited according to Muslim beliefs.