Ethiopia reports first wild poliovirus case since 2008, Horn of Africa outbreak expands
New data from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) shows that the polio outbreak on the Horn of Africa continues to grow as it spreads to another country.
During the past week, 11 new wild poliovirus (WPV 1) cases have been reported.
Somali girl receiving oral polio vaccine (OPV)
Image/UNICEF Video Screen Shot
Somalia is now reporting 108 cases, while Kenya is reporting 12.
One case from July has been reported from the Somali Region of Ethiopia. This is the first wild poliovirus case reported in Ethiopia since 2008. This makes a total of 121 WPV 1 cases on the Horn of Africa.
According to GPEI, On 14 August, a case of WPV1 was reported in a child living in Ethiopia with date of onset of paralysis of 10 July 2013. The case is an 18-month old child from the Somali Region (Warder district) of Ethiopia who had never been vaccinated with oral polio vaccine (OPV).
In Ethiopia, an immediate local immunization campaign is being conducted in the vicinity of the case, with a larger-scale supplementary immunization activities (SIA) planned targeting 950,000 children under the age of five years.
Additional SIAs are planned from September to November. Confirmation of the case in Ethiopia underscores the risk this outbreak continues to pose to countries across the region.
Carol Pandak, who heads Rotary International’s polio eradication program, told the Voice of America, “It’s not surprising that the virus is spreading. This area has been considered high risk because of its proximity to Somalia.”
The outbreak on the Horn of Africa began with a case in a young girl from the Banadir region of Somalia this past April, Somalia’s first case of polio since 2007.
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[…] Last July, Ethiopia recorded its first polio case since 2008. […]
[…] Last July, Ethiopia recorded its first polio case since 2008. […]
[…] two new cases from Ethiopia are both from Somali region, bordering Somalia. It is from this region that the first case from the country had been […]