Ethiopia has reported 18 new cases of polio as it begins a nationwide vaccination program targeting more than 16 million children under the age of five.
A health ministry official says the polio cases were found in the Tigray, Amhara and Oromia regions.
The country kicked off its polio immunization campaign on Wednesday with over 100,000 volunteers and health workers taking part.
Polio has spread in Africa and elsewhere as far as Indonesia following a 2003 boycott of immunizations by Islamic leaders in northern Nigeria. They claimed the vaccine was contaminated.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
