By NewsDesk @bactiman63
In a follow-up on the positive wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) from a environmental sample in Sistan-Baluchistan province, Iran, the World Health Organization says subsequent scheduled sewage samples collected from the same site, 2 weeks after the positive sample, tested negative for poliovirus.
The affected province borders both Baluchistan province in Pakistan, and part of Southern Region in Afghanistan. Genetic sequencing confirmed that the virus isolated is most closely linked to WPV1 currently circulating in Karachi region (Sindh province) in Pakistan.
WHO assesses the risk of international spread of WPV-1 from Iran to be low. Officials say this event has limited public health implications, given Iran’s very high levels of routine immunization coverage for OPV3 (3 doses of oral polio vaccine), estimated at 99%, and strong disease surveillance.
The last laboratory-confirmed indigenous wild polio case from the Islamic Republic of Iran was reported in 1997.
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