DUSHANBE, May 5, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare, told reporters in Moscow on May 4 that his agency will impose control over all flights from Tajikistan following a polio outbreak in Tajikistan, Russian media reported on Tuesday.

Genetic sequencing has determined that the poliovirus found in Tajikistan is most closely related to the so-called wild poliovirus that circulated in one of northern provinces of India last year, the Russian head sanitary physician said.

“The polio outbreak in Tajikistan …was not caused by vaccine strain that make us monitor the situation more intently,” noted Onishchenko, “From today, we will control all flights from Tajikistan to the Russian cities.”

He added that Russia did not yet plan to introduce quarantine measures and suspend aerial and rail communication with Tajikistan.

We will recall that Deputy Health Minister also Head Sanitary Physician of Tajikistan, Azamjon Mirzoyev, told Asia-Plus on April 30 that special ambulance rooms provided with polio vaccine have been established at all international airports and railroad stations of Tajikistan and all passengers under the age 15 traveling outside the country will be vaccinated against polio.