Polio this week as of 25 October 2017
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On 24 October, millions of people around the globe engaged in actions for World Polio Day. Highlights included the 5th annual World Polio Day event, bringing together experts and celebrities to share progress on the road to polio eradication, hosted by Rotary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington, USA; and a show of support from individuals, national governments, and media outlets around the world.
Read World Polio Day coverage about the unsung heroes of polio eradication and how we are ending polio. From the field, read Polio and Me: A Syrian Doctor’s Story, how one man became a doctor to end polio and protect children from the disease that crippled him as a young boy.
In a remarkable endorsement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel used her weekly podcast to draw attention to the World Polio Day (celebrated in Germany on 28 October) and the considerable progress in polio eradication.
Summary of newly-reported viruses this week: Afghanistan: Two new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples reported, one from Nangarhar and one from Kandahar provinces. Pakistan: One new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental sample reported, in Sindh province.
Additionally, an advance notification was received this week of a new WPV1 case in Afghanistan from Shahwalikot district in Kandahar province. The case will be officially reflected in next week’s global data reporting.
See country-specific sections for further details.
Afghanistan
Two new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples were reported in the last week, one received from Nangarhar district in Jalalabad province, collection 23 September, and one received from Kandahar district, Kandahar province, collection 5 October.
No new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases were reported in the past week. The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2017 remains seven.
An advance notification was received this week of a new WPV1 case from Shahwalikot district, Kandahar province with onset of paralysis on 2 October. The case will be officially reflected in next week’s global data reporting.
A response vaccination campaign has been completed for to the most recent WPV1 case in the country (occurring in Batikot district, Nangarhar province). The campaign targeted over 140,000 children in five districts of the eastern region.
The next sub-national immunization days are planned during the first half of November 2017.
Read the latest polio update from Afghanistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
Pakistan
One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) positive environmental sample was reported in the last week. The sample was collected on 11 October, from Karachi Gadap district, Sindh province.
No new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases in 2017 in Pakistan remains five.
Preparations are underway for the next round of sub-national immunization days (SNIDs), which will begin on 30 October 2017.
Read the latest polio update from Pakistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
Nigeria
No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2016 remains four and no cases have been reported in 2017. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on 21 August 2016 in Monguno Local Government Area, Borno.
Nigeria continues to implement an emergency response to the detected WPV1 strain and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) strains affecting the country (last detected in 2016).
Detection of polio cases in Nigeria underscores the risk posed by low-level undetected transmission. As part of the emergency response, subnational surveillance continues to be strengthened.
The next scheduled SIA activity will take place at the beginning of November, using bOPV vaccine to protect over 10 million children under the age of 5 years from polio.
Lake Chad Basin
The detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) (Borno state, Nigeria in 2016) and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) (Borno and Sokoto states in 2016) continue to pose a risk to the neighbouring countries of the Lake Chad basin.
Emergency outbreak response efforts continue across the Lake Chad basin, together with activities to fill subnational surveillance gaps across the region.
These activities include efforts to vaccinate children at markets, in internally displaced persons camps, and at international borders.
In Chad, the AVADAR project is being introduced in the Hadjar Lamis region. This is a mobile-based surveillance application developed by eHealth Africa, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, WHO, and Novel-T, which allows users to easily report cases of acute flaccid paralysis in health facilities and local communities. The programme is already in operation in other regions in Chad, as well as in Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
Planning continues to ensure that immunization days in early November in all Lake Chad Basin countries go ahead as planned. Countries are conducting meetings to incorporate lessons learned from previous campaigns into the November campaigns.
A large livestock vaccination campaign targeting international nomads is planned for the end of November.
Preparations continue for the second Outbreak Response Assessment (OBRA) for the region. This is taking place from 29 October -10 November in the Central African Republic and in Nigeria, and from 1-15 November in Chad and Niger.
Read the latest polio update from the Lake Chad Basin to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns
Central Africa
No new cases of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) were reported this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo).
The total number of cVDPV2 cases this year is nine, in two separate outbreaks: in Haut Lomami province (seven cases, with onset of paralysis of the most recent case on 27 July); and in Maniema province (two cases with onset of paralysis on 26 March and 18 April, with an additional isolate detected in a healthy individual with sample collection on 2 May).
Outbreak response continues to take place, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols.
This month, over 10 million children were immunized as part of a bOPV subnational immunization campaign, facilitated and led by volunteers and staff from WHO, UNICEF, and partner agencies.
The next immunization activity, taking place in November, is a mop-up campaign of Tshopo province, and several provinces in the south of the country. Using mOPV2, vaccinators aim to protect over 800,000 children from polio.
In Haut Lomami and Maniema social mobilization is being used to show parents how important it is for their child to receive polio vaccine.
Surveillance and immunization activities are being strengthened in neighbouring countries.
The country office continues to be supported by HQ to ensure the close analysis and mapping of cases and outbreak response.
The Middle East
In Syria, No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases in this outbreak remains 52. All confirmed cases to date have had onset of paralysis between 3 March and 25 August 2017.
The bulk of all cases continue to be from two districts in Deir Ez-Zor governorate; Mayadeen (42) and Boukamal (6).
Two immunization rounds have now been completed in both Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa governorates bringing the first phase of the outbreak response to a close. Post Campaign Monitoring results for the second Raqqa round are still being compiled into a final report. However, initial data suggests that 84% of children were reported as vaccinated through market surveys.
IPV campaign activities aiming to reach children aged between 2-23 months in 2 districts of Raqqa governorate (Raqqa and Thawra) have also now concluded. Work is on ongoing to start this activity in Tell Abyad district as quickly as possible.
A two-day workshop was held at WHO offices Amman on 15-16 October to review the ongoing risks of continued polio transmission in Syria and develop contingency plans for any potential breakthrough cases in known outbreak zones or spread of virus to new areas of the country. Draft plans developed outline the steps needed, if further polio transmission is detected, to ensure rapid and effective vaccination of Syrian children no matter where in the country they live. This was a key recommendation of a series of meetings to review the cVDPV2 outbreak response, held in Beirut on 30 September 2017.
Read the latest polio update from Syria to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.