The announcement came following reports regarding 22 Syrian citizens who have become paralyzed, of which 13 were found to have a violent polio specimen.

The organization ordered the countries in the region to launch a vaccination program that will last eight months, in order to vaccinate 22 million people.

The organization's experts have prepared in recent days supplies of vaccinations to the area, including to Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan.

Thirteen cases of polio have been confirmed in Syria, with most of the victims under the age of two years old.

The World Health Organization confirmed another three cases of the disease have been established through laboratory testing in Syria.

WHO announced 10 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 had been detected among a "cluster of 22 acute flaccid paralysis cases in Syria" last month.

NTJ/BA