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30 April

Polio network helps respond to potential flu pandemic

30 April 2009 - The technical network of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is actively helping support the global response to the potential pandemic of H1N1 influenza. With a network of technical staff and associated transportation, communications and data management capacity in more than 70 countries, the GPEI network has in the past helped identify and respond to outbreaks due to avian influenza, SARS, meningitis, Marburg fever, Ebola, cholera and other serious infectious diseases.

In response to the potential pandemic of H1N1 influenza, polio technical staff have been alerted to the need to incorporate searching for clusters of influenza-like cases into their surveillance activities. This is particularly crucial in many high-population countries and countries with weak health infrastructures in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the bulk of the polio staff are based, and from where no confirmed H1N1 cases have so far been reported. With local knowledge of communities, health systems, and government structures in these countries, the polio network can help make a difference in the globally coordinated response efforts.
 

23 April

Spotlight on Pakistan and Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Pakistan, two of the four remaining countries where wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission has never been interrupted, represent one epidemiologic reservoir.Much of Afghanistan remained polio-free in 2008, with the exception of the conflict-affected South Region. In Pakistan, however, wild poliovirus transmission increased, particularly after its reintroduction into polio-free areas of Punjab Province. Serious security problems in areas along the common border limited access by vaccination teams to large numbers of children in the two countries. In Pakistan, moreoever, continued managerial and operational problems impeded full implementation of activities, even in parts of the country where security was not a challenge.

Fact sheets: Afghanistan and Pakistan
Further background: "Progress towards polio eradication in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2008", Articla in WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record

 The Islamabad Traffic Police vaccinated over 2,000 children in the capital of Pakistan at their
'Polio check points' across the city during the polio immunization
campaign held 14-15 April 2009.

23 April

Horn of Africa outbreak

The current outbreak of polio in the Horn of Africa, centred in Sudan, is an emergency for polio eradication and a risk both regionally and globally. Governments in the region have responded swiftly with multiple immunization activities to date and high-level political attention to the outbreak. The next six months will be crucial to achieving for these countries to stop polio again.



Fact sheet by country on the Horn of Africa
Fact sheet on Sudan
Press release: Emergency measures launched in Horn of Africa
Rotary provides emergency response to polio outbreaks in Horn of Africa

8 April

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is launching an emergency appeal  to respond to wild poliovirus outbreaks across Africa.

"We have clear indications that polio is spreading again, including in countries such as Uganda which had been polio-free for more than a decade,” says Dr Tammam Aloudat, IFRC Senior Officer for Health in Emergencies. "We need to act now by reinforcing emergency vaccination campaigns before efforts made over the last 20 years to eradicate polio are severely set back by this series of outbreaks.” More

6 April

Guarding against polio's ticket to travel 

THE LATEST edition of the International Travel and Health Recommendations reminds travellers - and the countries that travellers from polio-infected countries visit - of the grave need to be vigilant against the transmission of polio.

The 2009 edition of the World Health Organization's International Travel and Health (ITH) Recommendations have been released, with a strong emphasis on the necessity to be immunized against poliomyelitis in light of continuing transmission in the four endemic countries of Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This update is particularly timely given the current outbreaks of imported polio in the Horn of Africa and West Africa.

The ITH provides in-depth guidance on appropriate immunization for travellers to and from endemic and re-infected polio countries. For instance, Saudi Arabia now requires travellers from countries reporting polio cases to have proof of receiving oral poliovirus vaccination six weeks prior to applying for an entry visa.

While the ITH Recommendations do not constitute a legal requirement for vaccination against polio, they do provide polio-free countries and Member States with the necessary guidance to determine the appropriate course of action in guarding against importations.

The 2009 ITH Recommendations is available online at: http://www.who.int/ith/en/

Updates on wild poliovirus cases worldwide are available at our Weekly Updates page.

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