--- description: Nigeria has announced an emergency mass polio vaccination campaign after two children have been paralysed by the disease in Borno state title: Nigeria to Roll Out Emergency Polio Vaccinations image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1926a559d625e2f9/6988a227bc6cfc80f13de3b6/polio.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [infectious diseases](/tag/infectious-diseases/) ## infectious diseases Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Nigeria to Roll Out Emergency Polio Vaccinations by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2016 12:39 PM CUT  Nigeria has announced an emergency mass polio vaccination campaign after two children have been paralysed by the disease in Borno state (file photo) Nigeria has announced an emergency mass polio vaccination campaign after two children have been paralysed by the disease in Borno state (file photo)GEORGE OSODI—ASSOCIATED PRESS by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2016 12:39 PM CUT [Nigeria](http://time.com/3971057/nigeria-polio-eradication/ "undefined") has announced an emergency mass [polio](http://time.com/tag/polio/ "undefined") vaccination campaign after two children have been paralysed by the disease in Borno state, the [_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37058618 "undefined") reports. Polio is a highly infectious disease mainly affecting children under the age of five and can cause fevers, vomiting, headaches, back pain and paralysis. It was once widespread in the continent, but there has not been a case in Africa for more than two years. The government is now planning on immunizing one million children in Borno – a state in north-eastern Nigeria that is regularly raided by militant group Boko Haram – and a further four million in neighboring states. World Health Organization (WHO) Director for Polio Eradication Michel Zaffran told the BBC that the mass vaccination could start “as soon as next week”. This is a huge step back for Nigeria, where health officials celebrated the first ever full year without a single case of polio in 2015\. Only one more polio-free year needed to pass before the country would have been declared officially done with the disease. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-37058618 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4449932/nigeria-polio-vaccination-borno/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4449932/nigeria-polio-vaccination-borno/"},"headline":"Nigeria to Roll Out Emergency Polio Vaccinations","datePublished":"2016-08-12T12:39:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:01:24.736Z","description":"After the first cases in two years were discovered in Borno state","url":"https://time.com/4449932/nigeria-polio-vaccination-borno/","keywords":["infectious diseases","Nigeria"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1926a559d625e2f9/6988a227bc6cfc80f13de3b6/polio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1926a559d625e2f9/6988a227bc6cfc80f13de3b6/polio.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NIGERIA POLIO OUTBREAK","caption":"NIGERIA POLIO OUTBREAK","creditText":"GEORGE OSODI—ASSOCIATED PRESS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4449932/nigeria-polio-vaccination-borno/","name":"Nigeria to Roll Out Emergency Polio Vaccinations"}}]}] ```