Polio this week as of 15 November 2017
New on polioeradication.org: Polio infrastructure helping to stop malaria in Nigeria, and Innovations in reverse cold-chain building resilience for disease surveillance in Sudan.
Underlining their commitment to a polio-free world for all future generations, Italy has provided €4.5 million to deliver polio vaccines in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Summary of newly-reported viruses this week: Afghanistan: One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case, reported in Kandahar province. One new WPV1 positive environmental sample, collected from Kandahar province. Pakistan: Six new WPV1 positive environmental samples, one collected from Punjab province, two collected from Sindh province, and three collected from Balochistan province.
See country-specific sections for further details.
Weekly country updates as of 15 November 2017
Afghanistan
- One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported this week in Shawalikot district in Kandahar province, with onset of paralysis on 17 October 2017. The case occurred in a child aged 11 months.
- The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2017 is now ten.
- One new WPV1 positive environmental sample has also been reported, collected in Kandahar district, Kandahar province on 5 October.
- Read the latest polio update from Afghanistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
Pakistan
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.
Six new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples were reported in the last week. One was collected in Punjab province, Rawalpindi district on 10 October. Two were collected in Sindh province, one from Karachi Giqbal district on 10 October, and one from Karachi Orangi district on 16 October. Three were collected in Balochistan province, one from Quetta district on 12 October, one from Killa Abdullah district on 15 October, and one from Loralai district on 17 October.
A round of National Immunization Days (NIDs) are scheduled for next week, aiming to reach about 37 million children aged less than five years across the country.
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 most recent Outbreak Response Assessment (OBRA) for Nigeria is now complete. The OBRA took place from 29 October to 10 November, and consisted of a team of 13 core assessors, supported by 28 national & international colleagues from Government and partner agencies.
Over the course of the OBRA, the team travelled to Sokoto, Borno and Ademaya States, and visited 19 local government authorities, 28 wards and 37 health facilities, one reference laboratory and one disability rehabilitation center.
The results of the OBRA are currently being compiled into a report that will be submitted to the government and partners, leading to the development of a plan of action by the Government of Nigeria.
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.
The second Outbreak Response Assessment (OBRA) for the region is now complete. The results will be compiled into a report to be submitted to governments in the Lake Chad region and partners, leading to the development of a plan of action.
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 ten.
Most cases this year are linked to an outbreak in Haut Lomami province, where the onset of paralysis of the most recent case was 27 July.
A separate outbreak occurred in Maniema province earlier this year, consisting of 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 across the country, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols.
Taking place later this month, subnational immunization days will vaccinate over 800,000 children in several provinces in the south of the DRC.
Surveillance and immunization activities continue to be strengthened in neighbouring countries.
The Middle East
No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases remains 63. All confirmed cases to date have had onset of paralysis before 25 August, 2017.
Almost 3,000 children under the age of 5 have received all scheduled routine immunization antigens in newly accessible areas of Deir Ez-Zor city. Volunteers ran opportunistic vaccination activities in the areas between 7 – 10 November.
This week the World Health Organization and the local Health Authority conducted a joint mission to visit newly accessible areas of Aleppo. The mission also met with the Aleppo University Hospital and Aleppo Pediatric Association to advocate for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and to support ongoing immunization activities to reach IDPs from infected areas.
Communication plans for the areas included in the bOPV/IPV subnational immunization days are being developed and strengthened to ensure that caregivers are highly aware of the upcoming campaigns.
Work continues to support the upgrade of laboratory facilities, expansion of environmental surveillance and training of laboratory and field staff. Training for lab staff will be conducted in early December to enable full implementation of new laboratory processes before the end of 2017. Read the latest polio update from Syria to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.