The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported details on a wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in Mozambique that is genetically linked to a strain detected in Pakistan and similar to a case confirmed in Malawi during February 2022.
Mozambique is also affected by a concurrent outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), with seven cases reported since 2021 and is ongoing.
Mozambique has been actively participating in the multi-country emergency outbreak response implemented across the South East Africa region in response to the case of WPV1 reported in Malawi, alongside Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, to reach more than 23 million children across the region.
Two rounds of bivalent OPV vaccination campaigns have already been implemented, the most recent at the end of April 2022, with more than 4.5 million children vaccinated in Mozambique.
According to the WHO-UNICEF national immunization coverage estimate, the oral poliovirus vaccine third dose (OPV3) and inactivated poliovirus vaccine first dose (IPV1) coverage was 73% and 78%, respectively, in Mozambique in 2020.
The WHO stated on June 23, 2022, 'The risk of international spread, particularly across the South East region of Africa, remains high, due to persisting sub-optimal immunity and surveillance gaps, and large-scale population movements.'
The WHO considers that there is a continuous high risk of international spread of WPV1, and the risk associated with the concurrent cVDPV2 outbreak is currently assessed as moderate.
Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease that predominantly affects children under five.
The virus is shed by infected people (usually children) through feces, where it can spread quickly, especially in areas with poor hygiene and sanitation systems.
However, the developed countries of Isreal and the U.K. have both confirmed polio in wastewater samples in 2022.
In response, Israel launched a substantive polio vaccination campaign in April 2022, hoping to reach millions of children.
To inform international travelers about their potential polio risk, the U.S. CDC issued Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions notices for countries in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in March 2022.
The CDC says, 'Before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series.'
And 'adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series, have not yet received an adult booster dose, and are going to any of the destinations listed above, should receive a single, lifetime booster dose of a polio vaccine,' says the CDC.
There are several polio vaccines authorized globally, which are listed at Vax-Before-Travel.com/Polio.
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June 27, 2022 at 03:23AM
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Wild-type Polio Outbreaks Genetically Linked in Africa - Vax-Before-Travel
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