Oshioke Global Health Blog : Polio this week

As the year 2013 draws to a close, the GPEI takes stock: find here ePolio News: December 2013

Polio this week - as of 24 December 2013

In Afghanistan, no indigenous cases of wild poliovirus have occured all year - all cases are linked to cross-border tansmission with neighbouring Pakistan.
In Nigeria, poliovirus is inscreasingly geographically restricted - primarly to Kanod and Borno states. Over the past 4 months, only four cases have occured in the country, despite the onset of the rainy season (the"high season" for polio transmission).
The Horn of Africa outbreak is on the decline, including in Banadir, Somalia, the "engine" of the outbreak (no cases since July).
A cross-regional emergency approach is being implemented in the Middle East.
In Pakistan, the main reservoir area is Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in particular North Waziristan. During the ‘high season’ in the past four months, 52 cases of wild poliovirus have been reported from FATA, with evidence of widespread geographic transmission across the country. Areas within Pakistan are being re-infected, as is neighbouring Afghanistan, and the outbreak in the Middle East originated in Pakistan.
The overriding operational priority for the GPEI is to ensure all children are reached during supplementary immunization activities during the 2014 ‘low season’ for polio transmission.

Afghanistan

The information below is as of 18 December 2013.
No new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2013 remains 11. All WPV1 cases in 2013 are reported from Eastern Region, close to the Pakistan border. The most recent WPV1 case had onset of paralysis on 12 November from Nangarhar.
No new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases in 2013 remains three. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 13 March (from Kandahar, Southern Region).
Subnational immunization days (SNIDs) were conducted 23-25 November and 15-17 December using bivalent OPV.

Nigeria

The information below is as of 18 December 2013.
No new WPV cases were reported this week. The total number of WPV cases for Nigeria 2013 remains 50 (all WPV1). The most recent WPV1 case in the country had onset of paralysis on 8 October from Kano.
No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains one (with onset of paralysis on 6 June, from Borno).
SNIDs were conducted in south-eastern states of Nigeria on 7-9 and 14-17 December.

The information below is as of 18 December 2013.
One new WPV1 case was reported in the past week from North Waziristan, FATA. The total number of WPV1 cases for Pakistan in 2013 is now 75. The most recent WPV1 case had onset of paralysis on 26 November (from North Waziristan, FATA).
No new cVDPV2 case was reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains 44. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 10 November (from North Waziristan).
North Waziristan is the area with the largest number of children being paralyzed by poliovirus in Pakistan. Immunization activities have been suspended by local leaders since June 2012. It is critical that children in all areas are vaccinated and protected from poliovirus. Immunizations in neighbouring high-risk areas are being intensified, to further boost population immunity levels in those areas and prevent further spread of this outbreak.