POLIO [to 30 January 2016]
Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)

Polio this week as of 27 January 2016
:: There are eleven weeks to go until the globally synchronized switch from the trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine, an important milestone in achieving a polio-free world. Read more here.
:: The WHO Executive Board is meeting this week, reviewing the report on polio eradication.
:: On 21 January, Syria passed two years without a reported case of polio despite the conflict which has affected the delivery of health services, including childhood vaccinations.
No new polio cases are reported in active country-level reports
Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus – Lao People’s Democratic Republic
WHO – Disease outbreak news
29 January 2016
On 17 January 2016, the National IHR Focal Point (NFP) of Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) notified WHO of 2 additional cases of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (VDPV1). Both cases are from Longsane district, Xaisomboun Province…

Public health response
Since the detection of the first confirmed cVDPV1 in Lao PDR, outbreak response activities have been conducted nationwide, including the national round in December and the affected provinces (Bolikhamxay and Xaisomboun) and a neighbouring province (Xiengkhuang). The national Emergency Operations Centre has been activated to coordinate response efforts and a polio outbreak response plan was drafted. Enhanced surveillance is occurring throughout the country, including daily zero-reporting of AFP cases. Active case finding is ongoing in high risk districts, including retrospective review of hospital and health centre records.

Six rounds with trivalent OPV vaccine have been planned from October 2015 to March 2016 (4 sub-national and 2 national) with approximately 10 million doses to be administered to children younger than 15 years…