DIYARBAKIR — Turkey has extended its massive polio vaccination campaign after a young boy near Baghdad, Iraq, was confirmed as having the virus last month.

The campaign being jointly carried out by the World Health Organization and Turkey's public health authority aims to vaccinate all children between 0-5 years of age and has now been extended to the six provinces, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Mersin, Hakkari and Batman, close to Turkey's border with Iraq.

Professor Secil Ozkan, head of the Turkish Public Health Agency said "after a major polio outbreak erupted in Syria, we launched the campaign in 11 provinces. Now we are extending it to include six more provinces after the latest reports from Iraq confirmed a polio case."

In October, the United Nations confirmed a major polio outbreak in war-torn Syria and announced that neighboring nations were beginning a comprehensive response to the outbreak.

No polio case has been reported in Turkey since 1998.