Mozambique becomes second African country to report wild polio this year
Mozambique became the second African country this year to report a case of wild poliovirus after confirming that a child who began experiencing onset of paralysis in March had contracted the disease.
Malawi, a neighboring country, reported Africa’s first case of wild polio in more than 5 years in February.
Genetic testing linked both cases to a strain of poliovirus that circulated in Pakistan in 2019. Because the cases are considered imported, Africa will not lose the polio-free status it achieved in 2020 after going 4 years without a locally acquired case.
“The detection of another case of wild polio virus in Africa is greatly concerning, even if it’s unsurprising given the recent outbreak in Malawi. However, it shows how dangerous this virus is and how quickly it can spread,” Matshidiso Moeti, MD, MPH, WHO’s regional director for Africa, said in a statement.
Moeti said WHO was supporting large-scale vaccination campaigns in countries in the region. WHO noted that Mozambique had recently vaccinated 4.2 million children in response to the Malawi case.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio continues to be endemic, although cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus still occur in other countries, including countries in Africa.
References:
Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus. https://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/this-week/circulating-vaccine-derived-poliovirus/. Accessed May 19. 2022/
Mozambique confirms wild poliovirus case. https://www.afro.who.int/countries/mozambique/news/mozambique-confirms-wild-poliovirus-case. Published May 18, 2022. Accessed May 19, 2022.
Collapse