Polio this week

Headlines

  • “Stopping the spread of poliovirus in the midst of a devastating war is a major achievement and a clear demonstration of the highest level of political commitment of the Government of Ukraine to the welfare of its population,” -Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. Read more…
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis – Containment Working Group (GCC – CWG). This “Call for experts” provides information about the GCC – CWG, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection. If you have any questions, please e-mail containment@who.int.

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

  • DR Congo: six cVDPV1 cases, three cVDPV2 cases and four positive environmental samples
  • Guinea: four cVDPV2 cases
  • Kenya: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
  • Nigeria: five cVDPV2 cases and six cVDPV2 positive environmental samples
  • Somalia: one cVDPV2 case

Country updates as of 20 September 2023

  • No wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases were reported this week. There have been five WPV1 cases reported this year all from Nangarhar province.
  • Nangarhar was covered during the recent subnational immunization days (SNIDs) in May and July, as part of intensified efforts to interrupt persistent local WPV1 transmission in the area.
  • No wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported this week. There have been two WPV1 cases reported this year.
  • 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.

 

  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were three cases reported last year.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were 13 cases reported in 2022 while the number of 2023 cases stand at 3.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been two cases reported this year.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There is one case reported this year and one last year.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were three cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were 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 RS2. There have been 11 cases reported in the country this year and six cases in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been 33 cases reported this year.
  • No cVDPV1 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.

 

  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been two cases reported this year.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country.
  • 11 cVDPV2 positive environmental samples have been collected, the most recent on 22 May 2022.  
  • Six cVDPV1 cases were reported; one each in Haut Lomami and Haut Katanga and four in Tanganyika. There have been 60 cases reported this year and 146 cases in 2022.
  • Three cVDPV2 cases were reported; one each in Haut Katanga, Lualaba and Tshopo. There have been 85 cases reported this year and 368 cases in 2022.
  • Four cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported; three in Kinshasa and one in Lualaba.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country.
  • Six cVDPV2 positive environmental samples have been collected, the most recent on 29 August 2022.

 

  • No cVDPV2 cases were 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.
  • Four cVDPV2 cases were reported in Kankan. There are five cases reported this year.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There have been three cases this year and one case in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case were reported this week. There has been one cVDPV2 case reported this year.
  • In 2022, one cVDPV3 case was 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 was collected on 15 March 2022).
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been five cases reported this year.
  • One cVDPV2 positive environmental sample was reported in Garissa.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been 13 cases reported this year and 16 cases in 2022.
  • One WPV1 case from 2021 was detected in 2022.
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. There were four cases reported in the country in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been six cases reported this year and two cases reported last year.
  • 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 cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were four cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. The number of 2022 cases remains 16.
  • Five cVDPV2 cases were reported; three in Sokoto and two in Zamfara. There have been 24 cVDPV2 cases reported this year and 48 cases in 2022.
  • Six cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported; one each in Niger and Jigawa and two each in Kano and Sokoto.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were 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 in Banadir. There are three cases reported this year and five cases in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • In July, the third subnational immunization days (SNIDs) of 2023 were implemented, using nOPV2, across the southern and central areas of the country.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • The current conflict 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.
  • AFP surveillance remains active nationwide and mitigation measures around sample collection and storage are being implemented.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been two cases reported in the country this year.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • Since 2022, Tanzania has been actively participating in a multi-country outbreak response across south-east Africa, in response to detection of different strains of poliovirus in the sub-region, including by boosting immunity levels and strengthening subnational surveillance capacity.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were 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 cVDPV2 case was reported this week. One case was reported in New York in September 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental sample was reported this week. There were 30 positive samples reported in 2022.

 

  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There are two cases reported this year and 162 cases reported in 2022.
  • An external surveillance review is planned for late September, to evaluate surveillance sensitivity across the country and identify any gaps.  Efforts to strengthen surveillance continue to be intensified.
  • No case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was reported this week. There is one case reported this year.

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