Afghanistan polio: Girl diagnosed with first case in Kabul since 2001

A three-year-old girl was diagnosed with the infectious disease in the capital

There have been no reported cases of polio in India for three years (EPA)

Afghan officials have launched a polio vaccination campaign after the first case of the disease was diagnosed in the capital since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

A three-year-old girl from the eastern part of Kabul was diagnosed with the disease, according to Dr. Kaneshka Baktash, spokesman for the Afghan Public Health Ministry.

She has been left partially paralysed and has now been taken to Pakistan by her family for treatment.

Mr Baktash said that his ministry has launched a vaccination campaign across the capital and in the area where the girl was living.

Polio has almost been wiped out across the world, and Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, although cases of the disease have declined significantly.

Additional reporting by Associated Press