Mauritania
Status: affected by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus 2 (cVDPV2)
Polio this week in Mauritania
- No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported in 2023.
- No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
A circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) has been confirmed in Mauritania. The first cVDPV2 in the country since December 2021, cVDPV2 was isolated from an environmental sample, collected on 6 September 2023 from Tevragh Zeina. Genetic sequencing confirms it is linked to Zamfara (Nigeria) 1 emergence (NIE-ZAS-1), most closely linked to a cVDPV2 environmental sample from Tamanghasset, Algeria, collected in April 2023.
International Health Regulations
Countries affected by poliovirus circulation are subject to temporary recommendations issued by the Emergency Committee of the International Health Regulations on Poliovirus, under the auspices of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The latest report by the Committee is effective as of May 2023).
Travel advice
WHO’s International Travel and Health recommends that all travellers to polio-affected areas be fully vaccinated against polio. Residents (and visitors for more than 4 weeks) from infected areas should receive an additional dose of OPV or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) within 4 weeks to 12 months of travel.
