Two new confirmed cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been reported this week, according to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Image/CIA
Image/CIA

One case occurred in Gaziabad district, Kunar province, with onset of paralysis on 14 February, and the other case occurred in Shawalikot district, Kandahar province, with onset of paralysis on 19 February.

This will raise the total number of officially reported WPV1 cases in Afghanistan in 2018 to five.

There was a total of 22 WPV cases reported in 2017- 14 in Afghanistan and eight in Pakistan.

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In addition, one new case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) was reported this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The case was reported in Mulongo district, Haut Lomami province, with onset of paralysis on 31 January.

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This raises the total number of officially reported cVDPV2 cases in the DRC in 2018 to three.

The Ministry of Health, supported by WHO and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, remains fully committed to outbreak response, including use of monovalent oral polio vaccine type 2 (mOPV2) across the country, in line with internationally-agreed outbreak response protocols.