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Pakistan + 10 more

Polio this week - As of 11 December 2013

Attachments

  • New cases reported in Pakistan, including in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Sindh. See ‘Pakistan’ section below for more.

  • The draft strategic plan for outbreak response in the Middle East is now available online here.

Afghanistan

  • No new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases for 2013 remains 11. All WPV1 cases in 2013 are reported from Eastern Region, close to the Pakistan border. The most recent WPV1 case had onset of paralysis on 12 November from Nangarhar.

  • No new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases in 2013 remains three. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 13 March (from Kandahar, Southern Region).

  • Subnational immunization days (SNIDs) were conducted 23-25 November with further SNIDs planned for mid-December using bivalent OPV.

Nigeria

  • No new WPV cases were reported this week. The total number of WPV cases for Nigeria 2013 remains 50 (all WPV1). The most recent WPV1 case in the country had onset of paralysis on 8 October from Kano.

  • No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains one (with onset of paralysis on 6 June, from Borno).

  • SNIDs are planned for mid-December.

Pakistan

  • Four new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week: two were reported from FATA and two from Sindh. The total number of WPV1 cases for Pakistan in 2013 is now 74. The most recent WPV1 case had onset of paralysis on 26 November (from North Waziristan, FATA).

  • One new cVDPV2 case was reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 is 44. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 10 November (from North Waziristan).

  • North Waziristan is the area with the largest number of children being paralyzed by poliovirus in Pakistan. 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.

Chad, Cameroon and Central African Republic

  • In Chad, no new WPV cases were reported in the past week. The most recent WPV case had onset of paralysis on 14 June 2012 (WPV1 from Lac). No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains four (the most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 12 May from Ennedi). Nationwide immunization days (NIDs) were conducted in Chad 22-24 November.

  • In Cameroon, no new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases remains four. The most recent case in Cameroon had onset of paralysis on 30 October 2013 (WPV1 from Ouest).

  • No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week in Cameroon. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains four. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on 12 August (from Kolfata, Extreme-Nord).

Horn of Africa

  • No new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases in the Horn of Africa remains 203 (183 from Somalia, 14 from Kenya and six from Ethiopia). The most recent WPV1 case in the region had onset of paralysis on 9 October (from Lower Shabelle, Somalia).

  • Outbreak response across the Horn of Africa is continuing. The impact of concerted response efforts is beginning to be seen, as the number of newly-reported cases from Banadir, Somalia (the epicentre of the outbreak) has declined (with no cases since July). All efforts continue to be made to reach all children across the region.

Israel and West Bank and Gaza

  • Although no case of paralytic polio has been reported, environmental surveillance suggests that WPV1 transmission, first detected in February 2013, continues in southern Israel. WPV1-positive samples were detected also in West Bank (2 sites) and the Gaza Strip (1 site).

  • Since 2005, only inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) has been used for routine childhood immunization in Israel. To interrupt WPV1 transmission, a nationwide supplementary immunization activity (SIA) with bivalent OPV targeting children < 10 years of age was conducted from August to October.

  • Following a consultation with the country's immunization advisory group, the Israeli Ministry of Health has recently decided to re-introduce OPV into the national immunization schedule. SIAs in West Bank and Gaza Strip were conducted on 8-12 December. A second round is planned for mid-January.

Middle East

  • In Syria, no new WPV1 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV1 cases remains 17. Prior to the outbreak, wild poliovirus was last reported in Syria in 1999.

  • In the Middle East, a comprehensive outbreak response continues to be implemented across the region. The large-scale supplementary immunization activity which started in Syria on 24 October to vaccinate 1.6 million children against polio, measles, mumps and rubella, in both government-controlled and contested areas has been completed.

  • Seven countries and territories are holding mass polio vaccination campaigns repeatedly targeting 22 million children under the age of five years over the next 6-8 months. In a joint resolution, all countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region have declared polio eradication to be an emergency, calling for support in negotiating and establishing access to those children who are currently unreached with polio vaccination.

  • WHO and UNICEF are committed to working with all organizations and agencies providing humanitarian assistance to Syrians affected by the conflict. This includes vaccinating all Syrian children no matter where they are, whether in government or contested areas, or outside Syria.

West Africa

  • No new WPV cases were reported in the past week. The most recent case in the region was a WPV1 from Tahoua province in Niger with onset of paralysis on 15 November 2012.

  • No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week from Niger. The country has reported a single case of cVDPV in 2013, with onset of paralysis on 11 July. Genetic sequencing has shown that the virus is related to that seen in Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria (Borno).

  • Multi-country synchronized immunization campaigns were conducted in West Africa 25-28 October. Additional national campaigns were conducted 22-25 November.

  • See more at: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek.aspx#sthash.f6fSz3vU.dpuf