The government of Bauchi state, north Nigeria, has raised alarm over the discovery of five new cases of wild polio this week, bringing the total in the state to 54.

Aminu Abubakar, deputy chairman of the Bauchi State Social Mobilization Committee, raised the alarm on Friday when speaking to newsmen in the state capital Bauchi.

"Despite efforts aimed at a total eradication of the child killer disease, more cases are being recorded," he said, adding that although the 1.2 million children targeted in the just concluded round of immunization was 100 percent achieved, the discovery of new cases was "frustrating and demoralizing."

He said the committee was still studying the situation to identify the lapses that led to the new cases.

Abubakar, also deputy director of the state's Wild Polio Control Office, called for a new approach in the polio eradication campaign to make it more effective.

He called for community participation in the planning and the execution of the program to ensure total eradication of the disease in the state.

"The communities would have to take charge of the exercise, that is the surest way of kicking out the disease," he said.

The state government had warned that the state was likely to witness a rise in the wild polio in the past two months.

More than 3,000 personnel were recruited to administer the 1.3 million vaccines on a targeted 1.2 million children in the 706 health districts in the state.

Source: Xinhua