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Polio this week as of 10 January 2018

Countries
Afghanistan
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GPEI
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Polio this week as of 10 January 2018

  • New on www.polioeradication.org: We join Dr Urs Herzog, polio eradicator, National PolioPlus Advocacy Advisor for Rotary Switzerland and polio survivor himself, as he explains the financial costs of the programme and why it is critical that we eradicate every last trace of the virus.
  • Summary of newly-reported viruses this week: Afghanistan: Three new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) positive environmental samples have been reported, one collected from Kandahar, one from Hilmand, and one from Nangarhar provinces. Pakistan: Four new WPV1 positive environmental samples have been reported, three collected from Sindh province, and one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Democratic Republic of the Congo: Advance notifications have been received of five cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). These will be confirmed in next week’s data reporting.
  • See country-specific sections for further details.

Afghanistan

  • No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported this week. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Shawalikot district, Kandahar province, with onset on 3 December 2017.
  • The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2017 remains 13.
  • Three new WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported this week. One was collected from Kandahar district, Kandahar province, and one from Lashkargah district, Hilmand province, on 6 December, and one was collected from Jalalabad district, Nangarhar province on 25 December.
  • This week, the first of three polio vaccination campaigns using bOPV was completed in Shahwalikot district, Kandahar province, and in the neighbouring districts of Miyanshin and Nesh, reaching 43 000 children.
  • A vaccination campaign using bOPV is scheduled to take place next week, targeting over five million children.
  • Read the latest polio update from Afghanistan to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

Pakistan

  • No new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) were reported in the past week. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Zhob district, Balochistan province, with onset on 15 November 2017.
  • The total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Pakistan in 2017 remains eight.
  • Four new WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported this week. Three were collected in Sindh province, one in Karachi Baldia district on 3 November, one in Karachi Gadap district on 11 December, and one in Karachi Landhi district on 14 December. The fourth sample was collected in Peshawar district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on 11 December.
  • A nationwide vaccination campaign using bOPV is scheduled to take place next week, targeting over 37 million children.
  • 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 (by date of onset) was reported in Monguno Local Government Area, Borno, with onset on 21 August 2016.
  • 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).
  • The next round of sub-national immunization days are planned for late January.
  • 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.

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.
  • Phase 3 of outbreak response is being launched in January 2018, taking into account the recommendations made during the November Outbreak Response Assessments for the countries and the Technical Advisory Group meeting in December. The objective is to maintain and improve the multi-national, regional outbreak response across the Lake Chad basin region, in particular improving operations, reach and surveillance among hard-to-reach areas and populations.
  • Read the latest polio update from the Lake Chad Basin to see information on surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

Central Africa

  • No new cases of type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) were confirmed this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in the DRC in 2017 remains 12.
  • Advance notification of five cVDPV2 cases has been received, all reported in Tanganika province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). These cases will be confirmed in next week’s data reporting.
  • Outbreak response continues to take place across the country, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols.
  • Surveillance and immunization activities continue to be strengthened in neighbouring countries.
  • Read the latest polio update from the DRC to see information on surveillance and vaccination campaigns.

The Middle East

  • No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported this week. The most recent case (by date of onset) was reported in Boukamal district, Deir Ez-Zor governorate, Syria with onset on 21 September 2017.
  • The total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in Syria in 2017 remains 74.
  • Preparations continue at national and governorate levels for the upcoming first round of the second phase of the outbreak response. mOPV2 and IPV will be used in two immunization rounds through house-to-house and fixed center vaccination.
  • mOPV2 stocks have arrived in Beirut, Lebanon, for onward transportation to Damascus, Syria. The shipment process for IPV is underway.
  • Read the latest polio update from Syria to see information on cases, surveillance and vaccination campaigns.