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This Week

Polio this week as of  31 May 2023

Headlines:

  • Last week, a cross-partnership Polio Outbreak Response Assessment team conducted a comprehensive analysis in Kiev, Ukraine. The team commended local and national public health authorities on the tremendous efforts undertaken in the country to strengthen immunization services and poliovirus surveillance, amid very challenging conditions. In relation to the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2 – most recent isolate December 2021), the group recommended to the WHO Regional Office for Europe to consider closing the outbreak, based on the team’s assessment of surveillance and immunization activities. Debriefing with the Deputy Minister of Health and the Ukraine Public Health Centre, the team further recommended that the Ministry of Health submit a comprehensive report of activities to the European Regional Certification Commission of Poliomyelitis eradication.
  • Africa’s largest polio vaccination drive since 2020 launched, aiming to reach 21 million children.  “This is a crucial undertaking to close vaccination gaps in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and will provide millions of children with vital protection from the risk of irreversible polio paralysis,” – Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. Read more…
  • One world:  coming together to achieve one common goal.  From G7, to World Health Assembly, to Rotarians at this week’s Rotary Convention in Melbourne, leaders and stakeholders from around the world unanimously reaffirm their support to achieving a lasting polio-free world.  Read more here.
  • Novel OPV2 rollout: To date, approximately 620 million doses of nOPV2 have been administered across 29 countries under its WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL). An additional 14 countries have met the requirements for nOPV2 use in the event of an outbreak. For more information on nOPV2, visit: www.polioeradication.org/nOPV2

Summary of new polioviruses this week:

  • Afghanistan: one WPV1 case
  • Pakistan: two WPV1 positive environmental samples
  • Algeria: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
  • Burundi: four cVDPV2 positive environmental samples
  • Central African Republic: one cVDPV2 case
  • United States of America: 16 cVDPV2 positive environmental samples

Weekly country updates as of 31 May 2023

  • One WPV1 case was reported in Nangarhar making it the third case this year. There were two cases reported last year.
  • No WPV1 positive environmental sample was reported this week. There have been 23 WPV1 positive environmental samples reported this year.
  • No WPV1 case was reported this week. There has been one WPV1 case in 2023 reported from Bannu, part of the seven polio-endemic districts located in the southern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
  • Two WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
  • Intensified efforts continue to be implemented in the country, particularly in the southern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to urgently eradicate the remaining endemic WPV1 transmission.  Since January 2021, all reported cases have been from seven polio-endemic districts in the southern area of Khyber Pahktunkhwa (out of a total of 171 districts nationwide).
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were three cases reported last year.
  • One cVDPV2 positive environmental sample was reported in Tamanghasset. There are 13 cVDPV2 positive environmental samples reported this year.

 

  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been two cases reported this year.
  • There are no reported polio cases in the country however, four positive environmental samples were collected last year and one was reported in February.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been no cases reported since 2021.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one cVDPV2 case reported in the country in 2022.
  • Four cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported in Bujumbura Mairie.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were three cases reported in 2022.

 

  • No cVDPV2 was reported this week. In August 2022, a cVDPV2 had been isolated from two environmental samples from a large wastewater treatment plant and a target site in the city of Montreal, Quebec, after the country conducted retrospective analysis of wastewater samples. Genetic sequencing confirmed linkage to the cVDPV2 case from New York, USA.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported in RS4. There have been seven cases reported in the country this year and six in 2022.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported in Tandjile. There have been six cases reported this year.
  • No cVDPV1 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There has been one case this year.
  • Three cVDPV2 positive environmental samples have been reported in the country with the most recent sample collected in July 2022.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country. However, 12 cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were collected in 2022.
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. There are 14 cases in 2023 cases to 14 and 146 cases in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There are 30 cases so far this year and 363 cases reported last year.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country. However, six cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were collected in 2022, with the most recent one in August 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were three cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been three cases this year and one case in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There has been one cVDPV2 case reported this year.
  • In 2022, one cVDPV3 case had been reported, with onset of paralysis on 12 February 2022, linked to cVDPV3-positive environmental samples previously detected in the country (25 samples in total were reported in 2022, the most recent sample had been collected on 15 March 2022).
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. There have been nine cases reported this year. Last year, there were 14 cVDPV1 cases.

 

  • No WPV1 case was reported this week. One case from 2021 was reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV1 was reported this week. There were four cases reported in the country in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were two cases reported in 2022.
  • No WPV1 case was reported this week. There were eight cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. There have been three cases reported this year and 22 cases reported last year.
  • No case of cVDPV2 was reported this week. There were four cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were 15 cases reported last year.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been six cVDPV2 cases reported this year and 48 cases were reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been no polio cases since 2021.  One cVDPV2 positive environmental sample was collected in January 2022.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There are two cases reported this year and five cases in 2022.

 

  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • The current situation affecting the country has severely impacted the delivery of healthcare and the function of health infrastructure throughout the country, particularly in Khartoum, North Kordofan and Darfur states. The second round of the cVDPV2 outbreak response campaign has been paused until further notice.

 

  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were two cases reported in 2022.
  • In May 2022, six positive samples were reported following the isolation of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) from environmental samples in London, UK.
  • No cases of paralysis associated with this strain have been detected – virus has been isolated only from environmental (sewage) samples.
  • No case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was reported this week. One cVDPV2 case was reported in New York in September 2022.
  • 16 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) positive environmental samples were reported in New York. These samples are connected to the 2022 cVDPV2 case.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were 162 cases reported in 2022.
  • There are no reported polio cases in the country however, there were three cVDPV2 positive environmental samples collected last year with the most recent one in December.

For more country information, please visit the respective pages within the Outbreak and Endemic country sections of the GPEI website.