Health Alerts

Only 12 WPV1 cases were reported across Pakistan in 2018 but this year’s total is many times higher - an update from the GPEI tells of a further five polio infections from two provinces, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the YTD figure to 91. Better news from neighbouring Afghanistan which had 21 WPV1 cases last year and 21 to date this year. Updates published in the African region WHO weekly bulletin reveal that both Benin and Ghana reported four more cVDPV2 cases: Ghana’s cases were widespread, from the regions of Northern, Bono, Oti and Savannah (also positive environmental samples taken in the Greater Accra Region), while in Benin they were in Atacora, Borgou, Collines, and Donga provinces. Other countries in the region reporting cases: Togo with two cases from Savanes province, and one new case in the DRC’s Haut Lomani province. More from two separate WHO Disease Outbreak News posts on cVDPV2 in Pakistan and the African region. Read more.