Update: Polio this week – As of 29 May 2013
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx

[Editor’s extract and bolded text]
. At last week’s World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, health ministers from around the world acknowledged the progress achieved in the past year in bringing polio to its lowest ever levels, thanks to actions of Member States in placing polio eradication on an emergency footing. Delegates endorsed the new Polio Eradication and Endgame Strategic Plan 2013-2018 to secure a lasting polio-free world and urged for its full implementation and financing. For more, please click here.

. In the Horn of Africa, four new wild poliovirus (WPV) cases were reported in the past week (one in Kenya and three in Somalia). Outbreak response is continuing. See ‘Horn of Africa’ section for more.

Nigeria
. Two new WPV cases were reported in the past week (WPV1s from Borno), bringing the total number of WPV cases for 2013 to 24. One of the new cases is the most recent WPV case in the country, with onset of paralysis on 25 April.

Pakistan
. One new WPV case was reported in the past week (WPV1 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – KP), bringing the total number of WPV cases for 2013 to nine. It is the most recent WPV case in the country, and had onset of paralysis on 3 May.

Horn of Africa
. Four new WPV cases were reported in the past week (one WPV1 from Dadaab, north-eastern Kenya, and three WPV1s from Somalia), bringing the total number of WPV1 cases in the region to six (two from Kenya and four from Somalia). These latest cases had onset of paralysis between 26 April and 14 May.

. Outbreak response activities are continuing in both countries this week. In Kenya, immunization activities began on 26 May, to reach nearly 440,000 children aged less than 15 years across Dadaab. Further SNIDs are planned for a wider area, including parts of Nairobi, on 9 June, followed by large-scale subnational immunization days (SNIDs) in late June.

. In Somalia, SNIDs are ongoing (26-29 May), including in Banadir region (which includes Mogadishu).

. Immunization campaigns are also planned and being conducted in other areas of the Horn of Africa, notably Ethiopia and Yemen, to urgently boost population immunity levels and minimize the risk of spread of the outbreak. In Ethiopia, in border areas with Kenya and Somalia, an immunization activity is planned to start on 31 May (targeting children aged less than 15 years). Focus will be particularly on reaching children in refugee camps. Broader activities are planned for late June.

. Yemen is planning two activities in early and late June.

Wall Street Journal: ASIA NEWS
Updated May 28, 2013, 5:21 p.m. ET
Polio Team Pulled From Pakistan City
World Health Organization Acts in Peshawar After Two Members of Vaccine Team Are Shot
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323855804578511413280432932.html?mod=wsj_streaming_stream#articleTabs%3Darticle