The Health Ministry is monitoring the presence of poliovirus in the environment via sewage samples at several selected treatment plants since 2012, said Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad.

"To date, no poliovirus was detected,” Dzulkefly told a media conference in Putrajaya yesterday, when asked on the incident of a polio outbreak reported in the Philippines recently.

He said the government takes a serious view of the polio outbreak involving two children in the Philippines as reported by the World Health Organisation on Sept 19 and 20.

To ensure Malaysia continues to be free from polio, Dzulkefly said the government would ensure more than 95 percent coverage of polio immunisation at any one time, including areas identified with low immunisation coverage.

“For Sabah, which is near to the Philippines, immunisation coverage is high, which is important to protect children from getting infected by polio,” he said.

- Bernama