free countries that have reported new cases of the crippling disease since 2003 after a vaccine boycott in Nigeria was blamed for causing an outbreak that spread the disease to other countries. Last year, some 1,267 people were infected in the world _ 792 of them in Nigeria. The total new cases in 2005 stands at 618, according to WHO, with Yemen listed as the worst-affected country. When WHO launched its anti-polio campaign in 1988, the worldwide case count was more than 350,000 annually. Polio is spread when people who are not vaccinated come into contact with the feces of those with the virus, often through water. It usually attacks the nervous system, causing paralysis, muscular atrophy, deformation and sometimes death, though only about one in 200 of those infected develop symptoms. The disease is still endemic in six countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Niger, Afghanistan and Egypt. Rosenbauer said an investigation has begun to determine how the girl in Angola contracted the disease. There had not been a case of polio diagnosed in Angola since September 2001, he said. --More 2024 Local Time 1724 GMT
