Health Alerts

The first case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) for 2019 was announced this week – from the extreme eastern zone of Dollo in Somali State. More cVDPV2 reports from across the African region were compiled by the WHO in a July 31 Disease Outbreak News post: Nigeria - 17 states affected; Niger’s 22 cVDPV2 cases in Magaria, Tanout, Dungass, and Bosso since July 2018, linked to the outbreak in Borno state, Nigeria; an environmental sample detected in last month in Ghana was linked to the outbreaks in Kwara state of Nigeria; a total of 31 cases of cVDPV2 have been reported from seven provinces across the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Elsewhere, Pakistan’s wild poliovirus (WPV1) count for the year has risen to 48 after a five month old baby in Balochistan province was diagnosed with the infection - he had not been vaccinated. Read more...