Polio may be gone for good from Tajikistan
One new Wild Polio cases reported this week!
What is that Polio Picture? Polio may be gone for good from Tajikistan.
Poliomyelitis (polio) returned to Tajikistan in the past year, with the first case of an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) detected in a child who developed acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) on 22 November 2020 in the province of Khatlon.
In response to the outbreak, 3 rounds of supplementation immunization with novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) were conducted, all of which reached a reported 99% of the target group of children under the age of 6.
Both environmental surveillance and active AFP case searches in hospitals and health facilities are continuing throughout the country to ensure that any potential further circulation will be detected.
The latest AFP case with confirmed cVDPV2 had onset of paralysis on 26 June 2021. The latest positive environmental sample was collected on 27 August, before completion of the third round of immunization in early September.
“Tajikistan has responded with full commitment and with the dedicated support of Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners to stop this outbreak,” said Dr Victor Olsavszky, WHO Representative and Head of the WHO Country Office in Tajikistan.
“We are cautiously optimistic that the extensive surveillance and immunization campaigns of the past 11 months have closed the door on further spread of this virus. This is vital for the health of children in Tajikistan and beyond.”
A Win Against Polio is a Win for Global Health!
2021 Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Cases – 466 – Afghanistan – 43 (308 in 2020), Angola – 0 (3 in 2020),Benin – 2 (3 in 2020), Burkina Faso – 1 (65 in 2020), Cameroon – 3 (7 in 2020), CAR – 0 (4 in 2020), Chad – 0 (99 in 2020), Congo – 2 (2 in 2020), Cote d’ Ivoire – 0 (63 in 2020), DRC – 11 (81 in 2020), Ethiopia – 9 (36 in 2020), Ghana – 0 (11 in 2020), Guinea – 6 (44 in 2020), Guinea Bissau – 3 (0 on 2020), Liberia – 3 (0 in 2020),Madagascar – 10 (2 in 2020), Mali – 0 (52 in 2020), Malaysia – 0 (1 in 2020), Niger – 5 (10 in 2020), Nigeria – 289 (8 in 2020), Pakistan – 8 (135 in 2020), Philippines – 0 (1 in 2020), Senegal – 16 (0 in 2020) ,Sierra Leone – 5 (10 in 2020), Somalia – 1 (14 in 2020), South Sudan – 9 (50 in 2020), Sudan – 0 (58 in 2020), Tajikistan – 32 (1 in 2020), Togo – 0 (9 in 2020), Ukraine – 1 (0 in 2020), and Yemen – 5 (33 in 2020).
New This Week – Afghanistan – 1 WPV1 Case, Cameroon – 1 cVDPV2 Case & 1 cVDPV2 Sample, Nigeria – 18 cVDPV2 Cases and 15 cVDPV2 Samples.
A total of 1,109 Vaccine Derived Polio cases were reported in 26 countries in 2020.
Quote of the Day
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.“
Albert Pine, English Author
The Final Two Polio Endemic Countries:
Pakistan
0 new Polio cases reported this week.
1 Wild Polio cases – 2021. The most recent case had an onset of paralysis on 1/27/21.
84 Wild Polio cases – 2020. No WPV1 & CVDPV2 Positive Environmental Samples were reported this week in Pakistan.
Afghanistan
1 New Polio cases reported this past week.
4 Wild Polio case – 2021. The most recent cases had an onset of paralysis on 11/1/21.
56 Wild Polio cases – 2020. No WPV1 & CVDPV2-Positive Environmental Sample were reported this week in Afghanistan.
Our Goal is Global Polio Eradication!!
Terry Ziegler, Endowment/Major Gifts Adviser Rotary Region 36