In Nigeria, three new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases were reported this week, bringing the total number of cVDPV2 cases in 2018 to eleven. These latest reported cases all had onset of paralysis in August, from Katsina and Borno states, linked to the cVDPV2 outbreak centered around Jigawa.

Poliovirus Image/CDC
Poliovirus Image/CDC

The country continues to be affected by two separate cVDPV2 outbreaks, the first centered in Jigawa state, and the second in Sokoto state.

In neighboring Niger, two cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) are reported from Niger, genetically linked to a cVDPV2 in Jigawa, Nigeria. The two cases are from Zinder province, Niger, with dates of onset of paralysis on 18 July and 8 August.

On the Horn of Africa, three new cases of cVDPV3 were reported in the past week, as well as one cVDPV3 positive environmental sample, from Lower Juba, Middle Shabelle and Banadir, Somalia.

In Papua New Guinea, two new cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) were reported in the past week, bringing the total number of cases in 2018 to 14. These latest reported cases are from Jiwaka and Eastern Highlands provinces, and had onset of paralysis on 13 August and 16 June, respectively.

Lastly, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and regional office of the Americas for the World Health Organization (WHO), has advised that no cases of poliomyelitis have been reported either in Ecuador, Venezuela or in any other country in the Region of the Americas.

The last case of wild poliovirus in the Americas was reported in 1991 in Peru. The Region was certified free of the virus by WHO in 1994, a status that is still maintained.

To date in 2018, 53 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus cases have been reported globally. The number of wild poliovirus stands at 18 (Afghanistan and Pakistan).