Polio this week

Headlines

  • Two Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases were reported from Dera Bugti and Chaman districts of Balochistan, Pakistan. The cases had onset of paralysis on 22 February 2024 and 29 February 2024. The virus isolated from the cases are linked to the YB3A cluster that was detected in environmental samples in Quetta and Chaman in 2023. Outbreak response to the detected cases in Balochistan and recent environmental detections from other districts are ongoing with a polio vaccination campaign taking place from 25-28 March in polio-affected districts in Balochistan, Sindh and Punjab. Eradication efforts, particularly surveillance in the endemic areas where no cases linked to YB3C cluster have been reported since September 2023, continue to be intensified, particularly as the country is currently in the ‘low transmission season’ for poliovirus.
  • Next week, Dr Hanan Balkhy, Regional Director for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region will convene the 10th meeting of the Regional Subcommittee for Polio Eradication and Outbreaks, to review the latest epidemiology in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as in most consequential geography outbreaks settings of northern Yemen and south-central Somalia.  Recognizing that polio eradication is a regional public health emergency, this Committee brings together Member States from across the region to intensify regional solidarity, support and commitment to rapidly achieve a lasting EMRO free of all forms of poliovirus.

Summary of new poliovirus this week

  • Pakistan: two WPV1 cases and 21 positive environmental samples
  • Burkina Faso: one cVDPV2-positive environmental sample
  • DR Congo: one cVDPV2-positive environmental sample
  • Guinea: one cVDPV2 case and 11 cVDPV2-positive environmental samples
  • Mali: one cVDPV2 case
  • Mauritania: one cVDPV2-positive environmental sample
  • Nigeria: three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples
  • Somalia: one cVDPV2 case
  • Yemen: two cVDPV2 cases
  • Zimbabwe: four cVDPV2-positive environmental samples

Country updates as of 20 March 2024

  • No WPV1 cases were reported this week. The total number of cases in 2023 remains six.
  • No WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • Two WPV1 cases were reported in Balochistan making them the first in 2024. The cases had onset of paralysis on 22 February 2024 and 29 February 2024.
  • 21 WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported; five in Balochistan, 11 in Sindh, three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each in Islamabad and Punjab.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were three cases reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases have been reported since February 2020.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There are 3 cases reported in 2023.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been two cases reported in 2023.
  • One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported in Ouagadougou.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported in 2023 and one in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • In August 2022, cVDPV2 was isolated from two environmental samples from a large wastewater treatment plant and a target site in the city of Montreal, Quebec. This was after the country conducted retrospective analysis of wastewater samples. Genetic sequencing confirmed linkage to the cVDPV2 case from New York, USA.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been 14 cases reported in 2023 and six cases in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. The number of 2023 cases remains 55.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There are 6 cases reported in 2023.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.  
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. The number of 2023 cases remains 105.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. The number of 2023 cases remains 118.
  • One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported in Kinshasa.
  • There are no polio cases reported in the country.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There were three cases reported in 2022.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported in Conakry making it the first case in 2024. The number of 2023 cases remain 47.
  • 11 cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported; eight in Conakry and three in Kankan.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. The total number of 2023 cases remain 6.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There has been one cVDPV2 case reported last year.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There have been eight cases reported last year.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • No virus was reported this week.  The total number of cVDPV1 cases for 2023 remains 24.
  • No cVDPV1 cases were reported this week. There were four cases reported in the country in 2022.
  • No WPV1 cases were reported in 2023.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported in Sikasso making it the first case in 2024. The number of cVDPV2 cases in 2023 remains 15.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There has been one case reported in 2023.
  • One cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported in Nouakchott Ouest.
  • No cVDPV1 case was reported this week. The number of 2023 cases remains four.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. There was one case reported in 2023.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There were two cases reported in 2023.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There are four cases in 2024 and 87 cases in 2023.
  • Three cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported in Sokoto.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • The last cVDPV2 case in the country was in October 2021.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental sample was reported this week.
  • One cVDPV2 case was reported in Gedo making it the first case in 2024. There are eight cases from 2023.
  • No cVDPV2 case was reported this week. The number of cases for 2023 remains two.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported in 2022.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. The total number of cases for 2023 remains two.
  • No cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported this week.
  • In May 2022, six positive samples were reported following the isolation of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) from environmental samples in London, UK. No cases of paralysis associated with this strain have been detected – virus has been isolated only from environmental (sewage) samples.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. One case was reported in New York in September 2022.
  • No cVDPV2 positive environmental samples were reported this week. There were 30 positive samples reported in 2022.
  • Two cVDPV2 case were reported in Alhudaidah one being the first of 2024. There are now eight cases reported in 2023.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There was one case reported last year.
  • No cVDPV2 cases were reported this week. There is one case reported in 2023.
  • Four cVDPV2-positive environmental samples were reported in Harare.

For more country information, please visit the respective pages within the Outbreak and Endemic country sections of the GPEI website.