Polio this week as of 1 November 2017
New on polioeradication.org: Mobile Circus Bringing Afghanistan Closer To Eradication, and Reaching The Hard-To-Reach: Dense Urban Environments.
This month Harvard University and National Public Radio (NPR) hosted an online forum to discuss how social data shines a global spotlight on polio’s last challenges.
Summary of newly-reported viruses this week:
Afghanistan: One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case, reported in Shahwalikot district in Kandahar province. Three new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples reported, one from Kandahar and two from Hilmand provinces.
Pakistan: Two new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples reported, one from Sindh and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): One new circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) case reported, in Tanganika province.
Syria: One new circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) case reported, in Deir Ez-Zor governorate.Additionally, an advance notification was received this week of a new WPV1 case in Afghanistan from Batikot district in Nangarhar province, onset 11 October. The case will be officially reflected in next week’s global data reporting.
Weekly country updates as of 1 November 2017
Afghanistan
One new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported this week in Shahwalikot district, Kandahar province. Onset of paralysis was 2 October. The case occurred in a female child aged 8 months old, living in an inaccessible area, who had previously received no vaccination against poliovirus.
The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2017 is now 8.
An advance notification was received this week of a new WPV1 case from Batikot district in Nangarhar province, onset 11 October. The case will be officially reflected in next week’s global data reporting.
Three new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples were also reported in the last week. One sample was received from Kandahar district, Kandahar province, collection 26 September. Two samples were received from Lashkargah district, Hilmand province, collection 5 October.
Plans are being finalised for a large scale mop-up campaign, scheduled to take place next week. The campaign will cover Kandahar province alongside 33 other provinces using bOPV, protecting over 9 million children from polio.
Read the latest polio update from Afghanistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
Pakistan
Two new wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples were reported in the last week, one from Peshawar district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, collection 10 October, and one from Karachi Gadap district, Sindh province, collection 12 October.
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.
Sub-national immunization days (SNIDs) are currently underway in Pakistan, aiming to protect over 21 million children from polio using bivalent oral polio vaccine.
Planning has begun for the next set of national immunization days, scheduled for later this month.
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 final stages of planning are underway for the next set of subnational immunization days, taking place in the coming week. Vaccinators intend to use bOPV vaccine to protect over 10 million children under the age of 5 years from polio.
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 has begun. This is taking place from 29 October-10 November in the Central African Republic and in Nigeria, and from 1-15 November in Chad and Niger. The OBRA teams aim to construct a detailed picture of the outbreak response in each country, to help inform next steps.
Planning is in the final stages to ensure that immunization days in early November in all Lake Chad Basin countries go ahead as planned.
Read the latest polio update from the Lake Chad Basin to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
Central Africa
One new case of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) was reported this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). The case was reported from Ankoro district, Tanganika province, with onset of paralysis on 14 September.
This raises the total number of cVDPV2 cases this year to ten. This most recent case is linked to an outbreak this year 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 DRC, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols.
The next routine immunization activity, taking place later this month, is a mop-up campaign of Tshopo province, and several provinces in the south of the country. Using mOPV2, vaccinators aim to protect over 800,000 children from polio.
Surveillance and immunization activities continue to be strengthened in neighbouring countries.
The Middle East
In Syria, one new case of cVDPV2 was reported this week from Mayadeen district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate. The case concerns a child aged 15 months, who had previously received 1 dose of OPV, and no doses of IPV. The date of onset of the case was 18 August 2017.
The most recent case (by date of onset) remains 25 August. All confirmed cases to date have had onset of paralysis between 3 March and 25 August 2017.
The total number of cVDPV2 cases in Syria in 2017 is now 53.
Following the completion of the second outbreak response round for Deir Ez-Zor and Raqqa governorate, third party independent monitoring results for the Raqqa round have been received. Reported coverage of targeted children is 69% (measured by parental recall through a house to house survey). Market surveys reported much higher coverage of 84%.
Additional IPV immunization aiming to reach children aged between 2-23 months of age in high risk areas of Aleppo and Idlib has concluded. IPV activities in Hama governorate are ongoing. Total administrative coverage to date reports that 223,001 children between 2-23 months of age were vaccinated (representing 98% of the target).
Sixteen new refrigerator trucks have been provided by UNICEF to transport vaccine and maintain the cold chain for ongoing response activities and outreach.
WHO is supporting the upgrade of laboratory facilities to enable more sophisticated techniques to be conducted in country for the detection of poliovirus. WHO is also supporting the establishment of environmental surveillance in country by end of 2017.
IPV vaccination activities continue at border points in Lebanon and Turkey. Lebanon is also using IPV to boost population immunity against poliovirus in identified high risk sub-districts.
Read the latest polio update from Syria to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.