KHOST - Three new positive polio cases have been recorded in Khost, officials from the Public Health Department confirmed on Saturday.

Public Health Director Dr Amir Badsha Mangal said the affected children belonged to Warza village in the Isamil Khail district and a remote village in the Qalander district of the province that lies near the Pakistan border, adding it remained unclear how the virus got to Khost Province, which has been polio-free since 2002.

He said the affected children had been administered polio drops during a campaign aimed at left-over and migrated children.

A World Health Organization (WHO) official in Khost, Dr Daud Shah, believed the virus made its journey through the long border between Khost and North Waziristan region of Pakistan.

Afghanistan is one of only three polio-endemic countries in the world. Two other countries are neighbouring Pakistan, and Nigeria.

Source: Paktya (Awoshtoon Radio)