A global initiative recorded 11 new cases of polio during the past week in Houthi areas

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) said that it recorded 11 new cases of the polio virus in areas controlled by the Houthi militia during the last week of this July, in light of the group’s fight against vaccines and the prevention of immunization campaigns.

The initiative indicated in a statement that 11 new cases of infection with vaccine-derived virus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported in Yemen.

She said that the reported cases were recorded as 4 cases in Hodeidah, the same in Amran, and one case each in Al Bayda, Taiz and Dhamar.

She stated that the number of cases reported since the beginning of this year reached 32 new cases of polio infection in Yemen, most of them in Houthi-controlled areas.

She pointed out that since the Houthis took control of Sanaa and a number of governorates, they have prevented immunization campaigns and fought vaccines for fatal childhood diseases, which led to the recording of new cases of these diseases that Yemen had gotten rid of.