Kampala, Nov 8 : Uganda's Ministry of Health launched the second round of polio vaccination targeting 2.7 million children under five years old in the eastern part of the country after the virus outbreak was reported in May.

During the four-day door-to-door vaccination campaign, health workers will visit all homes in 49 districts to administer two drops of the free polio vaccine, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry last month conducted the first round of the polio vaccination campaign after a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was confirmed in May from a sewage plant in Doko of Mbale District in Uganda.

The immunisation campaign aimed at stopping the spread of the disease is part of the global polio eradication initiative supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund, according to health authorities.

Uganda was certified polio-free in October 2006 by the WHO after having reported no indigenous cases for 10 years.

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus transmitted through the faecal-oral route and aerosol droplets, which mainly affects children under five years of age, according to the WHO.

/IANS