Polio scare hits Malawi with 17 possible cases, just as huge vaccine drive ends

Cyclone Freddy cited as contributing factor in feared new outbreak that follows inoculation of 8 million children

Malawi is investigating at least 17 suspected polio cases just as a vaccination campaign is completed with more than 90% of the country's children inoculated against the virus.

Health authorities fear Cyclone Freddy - the world's longest-lasting tropical cyclone - which made landfall in March in the southern African nation and led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of displacements - could be a contributing factor.