Rare polio virus spreads to Israel’s north
Published 10:32 am Thursday, August 22, 2013
JERUSALEM — Israel’s president is urging the country’s children to get polio boosters after a rare appearance of the virus spread to the north of the country.
President Shimon Peres met with children getting vaccinations at a Jerusalem clinic on Wednesday together with the Health Minister, Yael German.
German said new lab results show the “virus is migrating north and spreading.”
Peres detailed the suffering his family endured when one of his children was stricken by polio as an infant.
Israel this week began a nationwide campaign to inoculate children with booster drops after a rare discovery of the virus in the south of the country.
Israel already immunizes its children against the disease. The campaign gives a second boost of protection.
There have been no clinical cases of the virus.