In a follow-up to a report last month concerning suspected polio in Syria, a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreak has been confirmed in Deir-Ez-Zor Governorate, according to The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) today.
The virus strain was isolated from two cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) and one healthy contact (collection date: 25 April 2017). The cases had onset of paralysis on 5 March and 6 May.
No case of wild poliovirus 1 (WPV1) has been reported in Syria since early 2014. The now-detected cVDPV2 strain is unrelated to the WPV1 outbreak.
The GPEI says circulating VDPVs are extremely rare forms of poliovirus, mutated from strains in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) that can emerge in under-immunized populations.
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Very useful