A special vaccination campaign against polio began on Monday in the wake of a strain of the polio virus being detected in Hyderabad earlier this month.

Telangana BJP MLA G Kishan Reddy, who represents Amberpet Assembly constituency, administered polio vaccine to children at Kachiguda as part of the special drive.

He appealed to all to make use of the opportunity, a BJP release said.

The strain of the polio virus was detected in laboratory tests of the samples collected from a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Amberpet.

During the week-long campaign, around three lakh children will be administered fractional dose of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) injections in Hyderabad and in parts of neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, according to a state government release issued on Monday.

The virus was found in the checks conducted as part of the monitoring system put in place after polio was eradicated in the country in 2011.

Allaying fears, Union Health Ministry had said the wild polio virus (P2 strain) being found in the drain was a vaccine derived virus and does not change the polio-free status of India.