By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

Circulating vaccine-derived polio virus type cases have been confirmed in 10 African countries through Oct. 16 this year. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) is reported three additional countries from the continent that more recently reported circulating vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases- Zambia, Chad and Togo.

Zambia

Image/qimono via pixabay

The Ministry of Health of Zambia reported last week on a confirmed case of circulating vaccine-derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) in a two-year-old child in Chienge district, Luapula province on the border with Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the first case of cVDPV2 reported from Zambia in 2019.

In addition to the initial case-patient, 34 stool samples were collected from healthy contacts and two samples tested  positive for VDPV2, which were genetically linked to the case-patient.

No established links have so far been found with the ongoing outbreak of cVDPV2 in Democratic Republic of the Congo where 37 cases have been reported in 2019.

The last recorded case of indigenous polio in Zambia was in 1995, while between 2001 and 2002, five cases of wild polio virus were identified among Angolan refugees in the Western province of the country.

Chad

Last week, WHO was informed about cVDPV2 in Chad. A cVDPV2 was isolated from an a 13-month-old case of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), with onset of paralysis
on 9 September 2019 in Chari Baguirmi province, bordering Cameroon. The isolated virus has 32 nucleotide changes from Sabin 2, and is genetically-linked to a cVDPV2
detected in Borno, Nigeria and is part of the Jigawa emergence. The last indigenous wild poliovirus case were reported in 2000 in Chad.

Togo

In addition, last week WHO was informed about cVDPV2 in Togo. A cVDPV2 was isolated from a 30-month-old case of AFP with onset of paralysis on 13 September 2019 in
Plateaux province, bordering Benin and Ghana. The isolated virus has 32 nucleotide changes from Sabin 2, and is genetically linked to a cVDPV2 detected in Irewole state,
Nigeria and is part of the Jigawa emergence as well.

The last indigenous wild poliovirus case was reported in 1999 in Togo.

Ebola update: Still a public health emergency?, Vaccine news and current case counts

Ethiopia chikungunya outbreak nears 50K cases

Nigeria: More monkeypox reported in September 2019