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.”

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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.