POLIO [to 7 February 2015]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

GPEI Update: Polio this week – As of 4 February 2014
Global Polio Eradication Initiative
[Editor’s Excerpt and text bolding]
Full report: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx
:: Over 6 months have passed since the most recent case of wild poliovirus (WPV) type 1 had onset of paralysis in Nigeria. However, at least 12 months must pass without detection of WPV, in the presence of certification quality surveillance, before Nigeria would be considered as having stopped transmission of WPV. Polio-free certification of Nigeria (and the entire WHO African region) would follow only after 3 years with high quality surveillance have passed without identifying WPV. Intensified efforts are ongoing in the country not just to eradicate WPV, but also to urgently stop the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 outbreak which continues to affect the country.
:: Ministers of Health, health leaders and experts from around the world convened in Geneva last week at WHO’s Executive Board meeting to set global public health policies. Participants were encouraged by progress towards a polio free world yet warned that as long as the disease remains anywhere, children everywhere are at risk. Read more

Selected country report content:
Nigeria
:: One new type 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV2) case was reported this week in Gujba district of Yobe province (previously uninfected in 2014) with onset of paralysis on 3 November. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on 16 November in Barde district of Yobe state. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2014 in Nigeria is now 30.
National Immunization Days (NIDs) are taking place on 21 – 25 March using trivalent OPV.
Pakistan
:: Three new wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases were reported in the past week, all with onset of paralysis in 2015. One case was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, in Nowshera district; one in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), in South Waziristan; and one in Sindh province, in Kambar district. Each of these cases is the first in these districts for 2015. :: The total number of WPV1 cases in 2014 remains 305, and is now 6 for 2015. The most recent onset of paralysis was on 7 January, with one case in FATA and one in KP.
:: To urgently address the intense transmission affecting the country, the government has put in place emergency measures to take advantage of the current ‘low season’ for poliovirus transmission. A ‘low season plan’ has been established, based on lessons learned on accessing populations in insecure areas, engaging communities and fixing remaining operational challenges. Implementation is being overseen by Emergency Operations Centres at federal and provincial levels to ensure accountability for the quality of polio eradication operations. More.
:: The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on polio eradication in Pakistan is meeting on 14 – 15 February to review the current epidemiological situation and the current status of the low transmission plan implementation.
West Africa
:: Even as polio programme staff across West Africa help to control the Ebola outbreak affecting the region, efforts are being made in those countries not affected by Ebola to vaccinate children against polio to create a buffer zone surrounding the affected countries. The Ebola crisis in western Africa continues to have an impact on the implementation of polio eradication activities in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) in these countries have been postponed and the quality of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance markedly decreased throughout 2014.