GPEI Update: Polio this week – As of 2 April 2014
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Full report: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx
[Editor’s extract and bolded text]
:: The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has met in Geneva on 1-3 April to discuss measures to prevent further international spread of polio, progress in eliminating wild and vaccine derived poliovirus and the status of the preparation for global OPV2 withdrawal. Final recommendations will be published in the Weekly Epidemiological Record.
:: The outbreak in North Waziristan, Pakistan, continues, with three new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and two new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases reported this week. In the Middle East, Syria reported two new WPV1 cases, one each from Aleppo and Hama provinces.
Pakistan
:: Three new WPV1 cases were reported this week from North Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas – FATA, North-West Pakistan, bringing the total number of cases for 2014 to 39. The most recent reported case had onset of paralysis on 8 March.
:: Two new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week with the onset of paralysis on 8 March, from North Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas – FATA. The total number of cVDPV2 cases is 45 for 2013, and six for 2014.
Middle East
:: Two new WPV1 cases were reported from Syria this week, one from Deir Hafer, Aleppo province with an onset of paralysis on 28 December 2013, and another one from Salamayeh, Hama province with onset of paralysis on 21 January – the first confirmed case in 2014. The total number of WPV1 cases reported from Syria since the outbreak was detected is 39: 27 cases reported by the Ministry of Health, and 12 cases from contested areas (Aleppo, Edleb and Deir Al Zour) not yet reflected in official figures. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on 21 January, 2014, in Salamayeh, Hama province, western Syria.

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Attack on polio team: Female worker killed in Bannu
The Express Tribune (Pakistan) (4/1)
A female polio worker was gunned down by two armed men on a motorcycle in the cantonment area of Bannu on Monday. The shooting occurred at around 8:30 in the morning, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Sanaullah Khan Marwat…