By NewsDesk @infectiousdiseasenews
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced recently that Cabo Verde has gone for three consecutive years – as of January 2021 – without local malaria transmission, becoming eligible to apply for the WHO certification of malaria elimination.
Cases have progressively declined over the last three decades and in the past three years, the country reported zero indigenous cases.
Certification of malaria elimination is the official recognition by WHO of a country’s malaria-free status. WHO grants this certification when a country has proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the chain of local transmission of all human malaria parasites has been interrupted nationwide for at least the past three consecutive years, and that a fully functional surveillance and response system that can prevent re-establishment of indigenous transmission is in place.
If approved, this would be the third time Cabo Verde will be validated following its elimination of malaria. The first time was in 1968 and the second in 1983. The resurgence of the disease is accredited to subsequent lapses in vector control that led to a return of the disease.
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