Kampala, Jan 29 (IANS): Uganda has rolled out a polio vaccination exercise in districts that were affected by the Ebola outbreak, which was contained early this month.

Ministry of Health said the 10-day exercise targeting children aged five years and below started on Friday in the districts of Mubende, Mityana, Kampala, Wakiso, Kassanda and Mukono. The districts missed out on the nationwide exercise last November when the country was battling the Ebola outbreak.

In the Central District of Wakiso, Dorothy Asiimwe, community health officer, told Xinhua on Saturday that so far, the exercise is going on smoothly and many parents have brought their children for immunisation.

Simon Lutwama, who brought his three-year-old daughter for vaccination, said he supported the exercise because he wants to ensure that all children are born free from polio, Xinhua news agency reported.

Uganda in August last year reported a polio outbreak in the country after samples from faecal matter collected in the capital Kampala tested positive.

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

According to the WHO, polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus that mainly affects children under five-years-old.