Exclusive - Syria region where polio found excluded from 2012 vaccination drive

A health worker administers polio vaccination to a child in Raqqa, eastern Syria in this November 18, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Nour Fourat/Files

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian government excluded the largely rebel-held province of Deir al-Zor - where polio broke out this year - from a 2012 vaccination campaign, arguing that most residents had fled although hundreds of thousands were still there, a Reuters investigation shows.

Public health researchers say missing out the Syrian province contributed to the reemergence there of polio, a highly infectious, incurable disease that can paralyse a child within hours but has been wiped out in many parts of the world.