GPEI Update: Polio this week – As of 23 April 2014
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
Full report: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx
[Editor’s extract and bolded text]
:: Pakistan continues to be the country with most polio cases in the world this year. This week, five new cases were reported (two wild poliovirus type 1 – WPV1, and three circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 – cVDPV2). Four of the cases are from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and one is from Gadap, greater Karachi.
:: In Nigeria, the Expert Review Committee on Polio Eradication and Routine Immunization (ERC) is convening this week in Abuja. The ERC is expected to review the current epidemiology of poliovirus transmission in the country, and put forward recommendations to rapidly achieve a polio-free Nigeria.
Pakistan
:: Two new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week (from North Waziristan, FATA, and Gadap, greater Karachi), bringing the total number of WPV1 cases for 2014 to 49. The most recent WPV1 case had onset of paralysis on 2 April (from North Waziristan).
:: Three new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week (two from FR Bannu and one from North Waziristan, FATA). The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 27 March (from North Waziristan). The total number of cVDPV2 cases is 45 for 2013, and ten for 2014.
:: North Waziristan is the district with the largest number of children being paralyzed by poliovirus in the world (both wild and cVDPV2). 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 neighboring high-risk areas are being intensified, to further boost population immunity levels in those areas and prevent further spread of this outbreak.
:: The densely populated Peshawar valley is considered to be the main ‘engine’ of poliovirus transmission, alongside North Waziristan, due to large-scale population movements through Peshawar from across this region, and into other areas of Pakistan. The quality of operations must be urgently improved in Peshawar, and immunization activities urgently resumed in North Waziristan.