Two suspected cases of polio in Bihar

Patna, Feb 22 (IANS) Two suspected cases of polio have been reported in Bihar's Darbhanga district and the samples taken from two children were sent for tests at a laboratory in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, an official said Sunday.

The symptoms of polio were noticed in the two children in a village, around 200 km from Patna, a health official G.N. Singh said.

"We have sent samples to a Lucknow-based laboratory for tests to know whether the symptoms are positive or negative," Singh said.

Singh said the final word on the suspected polio cases can be given only after receiving the test report.

The parents of one of the children, suspected of having polio, said his one leg was affected. His right leg suddenly went numb 10 days ago when he was playing inside the house

'We took him to a private doctor who suspected it to be polio," another family member said.

Singh said the suspected cases are under investigation and it will take a few days to get the results.

He said there is no need to panic as such tests are a routine matter.

"This was the first sample sent this year and we hope this report will be negative," Singh said.

Bihar has remained polio-free for over four years, thanks to the state government's commitment supported by development partners in the polio eradication programme.

India was declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2014 after no case was detected since 2011.