Polio this week – GPEI
Polio this week

Headlines 

  • Dr Jamal Ahmed appointed WHO Director for Polio Eradication and Chair of GPEI Strategy Committee – Dr Ahmed is a long-time polio eradicator, having served since 2022 as Coordinator of WHO’s Africa Regional Office (AFRO) Polio Eradication Programme, based in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.  Prior to that, he worked for WHO’s polio eradication programme in Geneva as Team Lead for Surveillance, Lab and Data, and as Chair of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s (GPEI) Surveillance Group.  He has also served in the WHO Pakistan Country Office as Coordinator of the Polio Team and as the lead for the Risk Assessment and Decision Support Unit. Dr Ahmed takes over this critical role in the polio eradication programme, following the sudden and tragic passing of previous director Aidan O’Leary in August 2024.  His notable expertise and experience, in particular at regional and country level, will be crucial in helping drive the partnership towards successful implementation of its strategies, to secure a lasting world free of all forms of poliovirus.  More.
  • International Women’s Day – global polio partners continue to celebrate the critical role women play in overcoming barriers to safeguarding children’s health.  WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy became the latest GPEI Gender Champion, and called on governments, donors and partners to invest in gender equity in an op-ed published in Arab News.
  • Polio at EIB Group Forum 2025:  last week, at the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group Forum in Luxembourg, Ted Chaiban (Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF), Mike Ryan (Deputy Director General, WHO), Sania Nishtar (CEO, Gavi) and Thomas Östros (Vice President, EIB) took part in a panel on global health partnerships, including the GPEI, and their value in overcoming barriers in global health. Immediately afterwards, a dedicated session on polio featured remarks from WHO, UNICEF and Gates Foundation leadership.
  • Expert groups convene on polio eradication.  The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on immunization (SAGE) is meeting this week at WHO in Geneva, following last week’s meeting of the IHR Emergency Committee on Polio Eradication (IHR EC).  Among a wide range of immunization topics, SAGE is expected to review the global poliovirus epidemiology and current status of bivalent OPV cessation planning and preferred routine immunization schedule with whole-cell pertussis hexavalent vaccine; while the IHR EC reviewed latest international detections of WPVs and cVDPVs.  The reports from both meetings will be published over the coming weeks.
  • Breakthrough in next-generation polio vaccines:  researchers have taken a major step towards producing a more affordable and lower-risk polio vaccine using virus-like particles (VLPs).  Such new technologies could make for ideal tools especially for the post-eradication era, with the aim of having cost-effective vaccines available in an equitable manner.  More.

Summary of new polioviruses this week, cases and positive environmental isolates:

  • Pakistan:  18 WPV1-positive environmental samples
  • Chad:  three cVDPV2 cases and three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples
  • DR Congo:  one cVDPV2 case
  • Nigeria:  three cVDPV2 cases
  • Occupied Palestinian territory:  three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples
  • Tanzania:  two cVDPV2-positive environmental samples
Country updates as of 12 March 2025

More information on the countries that have reported cases and/or environmental samples this week.

  • No WPV1 cases are reported this week.  The total number of WPV1 cases in 2025 is six.  The total number of WPV1 cases for 2024 is 74.
  • 18 WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported this week, collected in February, from Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.

  • Three cVDPV2 cases were reported this week, from N’Djamena and Ouaddai (with onset of paralysis in November), and from Logone Oriental (with onset of paralysis in February), bringing the total number of cVDPV2 cases in 2024 to 39, and for 2025 to three.
  • Three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week, one collected in November and two collected in January, from N’Djamena.

  • No cVDPV1 case was reported this week.  The total number of cVDPV1 cases in the country in 2024 is ten.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported this week, from 2024, from Maindombe.  There have been 15 cVDPV2 cases reported in 2024.

  • Three cVDPV2 cases were reported this week, with onset of paralysis in January, from Borno and Jigawa.  The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2024 is 98.  The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2025 is six.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.

  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week.  The total number of cases from Gaza in 2024 is one.
  • Three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week, from the Gaza Strip, collected in February 2025.

  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been two cases reported in 2023.
  • Two cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week, from Mwanza, collected in November 2024 and February 2025.