Patna, Aug 24 - As many as 49 new cases of polio have been detected in Bihar in the past seven months despite immunisation drives, a health department official said Monday.

The new figures were revealed by a new polio status report released by the Indian National Polio Plus Committee Rotary International here.

'Of the 236 cases reported in India this year, 181 cases were detected in Uttar Pradesh, 49 in Bihar, four in Delhi and one each in Rajasthan and Uttarakhand,' said Anil Kumar Singh, a health official.

This spells bad news for the ongoing battle against polio in Bihar, which has been recording the second highest incidence of the disease in India for the last few year after neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.