The case was diagnosed in a child in the province of Tete (northeast). “This is the second imported case of wild poliovirus in southern Africa this year, following Malawi in mid-February”recalls the WHO.
“The detection of another case in Africa is very concerning, although not surprising given the recent case in Malawi”commented Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s head for Africa.
Laboratory analyzes show that the newly confirmed case is linked to a strain that was circulating in Pakistan, as is already the case in Malawi.
Africa was declared free in August 2020 when all forms of wild poliovirus were eliminated from the continent. It takes no cases for four years to get it.
The international organization has increased vaccinations in Malawi and surveillance has been strengthened in neighboring countries. Since the detection in Malawi, southern African countries have launched a vaccination campaign, with Mozambique immunizing 4.2 million children once morest the disease, according to the WHO.
Malawi and its four immediate neighbours, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, want to vaccinate 23 million children aged five and under in the coming weeks.
Polioviruses cause irreversible paralysis and even death. They are transmitted by the stools of an infected person then contamination of water or food, and it multiplies in the intestine. There is no treatment, but vaccination prevents infection and therefore transmission, which has virtually eradicated wild forms.
The vaccine was created in the 1950s but remained out of reach of poor countries in Asia and Africa until significant mobilization in recent decades.
