After 32 years of struggle, it seemed as if in 2016 the last case of wild poliovirus had been seen on the African continent, but the setback came almost six years later. A young girl is now found to have fallen ill in the Malawi capital Lilongwe.
In February came information about a new wild polio case in Malawi - the first domestic case of 30 years. The Malawian authorities, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), have acted swiftly and initiated measures in the form of national vaccination. The goal is to vaccinate three million children aged 0 to 5 years. It is hoped that neighboring Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia will also take the same measures to minimize the risk of an outbreak in the region.
- As long as wild poliovirus exists somewhere in the world, all countries risk importing the virus, says Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's Regional Director for Africa in a statement.
However, the WHO currently sees no indication that the individual case will be a threat Africa's polio-free certification status.
Polio in the world
For much of human history, polio has been a dreaded virus that has caused suffering and death worldwide. The virus is aggressive and contagious. Det invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in just a few hours. The virus is transmitted from person to person, mainly through faeces or through contaminated water and food.
In 1988, the vaccination program was started The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, (GPEI), by, among others, the WHO and the UN children's rights organization UNICEF, with the aim of completely eradicating wild poliovirus through immunization. The vaccination program was effective and wild poliovirus been able passed to the history books in most countries of the world. Today, wild polio is only endemic in two countries - Afghanistan and Pakistan. The case in Malawi means that wild polio has found its way back to the African continent, but how it has happened and what consequences it has is currently being investigated.
In addition to wild poliovirus, there is another variant called vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV). It is a weakened version that has been successfully controlled with the help of global vaccination. This virus is currently active in several African and Asian countries, most often in populations with low vaccination coverage. In the past year, a few cases have been reported in Europe. Unique for this year is a case in point Israel, the first since 1989.
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