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Polio this week - As of 15 May 2013

The Taliban in Afghanistan have released a statement supporting health programmes in the country, with particular reference to polio vaccination campaigns. The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes this statement, notes the request to respect local conditions, and supports all efforts to protect the children of Afghanistan from polio and other diseases. See more
A wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case has been confirmed in Somalia, the first in the country since 2007. Outbreak response activities have been launched. Please see ‘Horn of Africa’ section below for more.
Health ministers from around the world will convene in Geneva at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA), starting on 20 May. Polio eradication will also feature on the health ministers’ agenda, and to facilitate discussions, the GPEI has prepared a report for the WHA, available here.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative mourns the loss of our friend and colleague Dr Ali Jaffer Mohamed, who passed away on 14 May. Dr Jaffer, of the Sultanate of Oman, is recognized as one of the most efficient promoters of the global health agenda and rendered great service to WHO at both national and international levels. Over the last decades, Dr Jaffer contributed greatly to various public health and immunization programmes, most recently as chair of both the Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication and the Regional Technical Advisory Group in the Eastern Mediterranean. He will be remembered for his pleasant and friendly personality, dedication, vast and resourceful knowledge, experience and wisdom.

Wild Poliovirus (WPV) cases

Total cases	Year-to-date 2013	Year-to-date 2012	Total in 2012
Globally	33	55	223
- in endemic countries	32	52	217
- in non-endemic countries	1	3	6

Case breakdown by country

Countries	Year-to-date 2013				Year-to-date 2012				Total in 2012	Date of most recent case
Countries	WPV	WPV3	W1W3	Total	WPV1	WPV3	W1W3	Total	Total in 2012	Date of most recent case
Pakistan	8			8	13	2	1	16	58	24-Apr-13
Afghanistan	2			2	6			6	37	28-Mar-13
Nigeria	22			22	23	7		30	122	24-Apr-13
Somalia	1			1						18-Apr-2013
Chad					3			3	5	14-Jun-12
Niger									1	15-Nov-12
Total	33	0	0	33	45	9	1	55	223
Total in endemic countries	32	0	0	32	42	9	1	52	217
Total outbreak	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	3	6

Data in WHO as of 15 May 2012 for 2012 data and 14 May 2013 for 2013 data.

Afghanistan

No new WPV cases were reported in the past week. The total number of WPV cases for 2013 remains two. The most recent WPV case had onset of paralysis on 28 March (WPV1 from Kunar).
No new circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases in 2013 remains three. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 13 March (from Kandahar).
Staggered National Immunization Days (NIDs) started on 21 April in some areas, and are continuing in early May in other areas. Further subnational rounds are planned for late May and early June in high-risk areas.

Nigeria

Four new WPV cases were reported in the past week (WPV1s from Borno, Kano, Taraba and Yobe), bringing the total number of cases for 2013 to 22. The cases from Borno and Taraba are the most recent WPV cases in the country, both with onset of paralysis on 24 April.
No new cases of cVDPV2 were reported in the past week. The most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 24 November 2012 (from Kebbi).
Subnational Immunization Plus Days (IPDs) were held this week (11-14 May) in northern and middle-belt states.

Pakistan

Two new WPV cases were reported in the past week (WPV1s from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – KP, and Federally Administered Tribal Areas – FATA), bringing the total number of WPV cases for 2013 to eight. The case from FATA is the most recent WPV case in the country (and the first WPV from FATA in 2013), and had onset of paralysis on 24 April.
No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains three. The most recent cVDPV2 case in the country had onset of paralysis on 10 April (from FATA).
Two new positive environmental samples were confirmed this week, WPV1s from Gadap, Sindh (collected 11 April) and Peshawar, KP (collected 12 April). This year, 16 environmental samples positive for WPV1 have been reported (of which 11 were collected in Peshawar and Hyderabad, Sindh).
The security situation continues to be monitored closely, in consultation with law enforcement agencies. Immunization activities continue to be implemented, in some areas staggered or postponed, depending on the security situation at the local level.

Chad

No new WPV cases were reported in the past week. The most recent WPV case had onset of paralysis on 14 June 2012 (WPV1 from Lac).
No new cVDPV2 cases were reported in the past week. The total number of cVDPV2 cases for 2013 remains one (onset of paralysis on 4 February from Salamat).
The most recent subnational immunization days (SNIDs) were conducted on 26-29 April, to be followed by further SNIDs on 24-27 May and a nationwide activity in June, all with trivalent OPV.

Horn of Africa

One new WPV case was reported in the past week (WPV1 from Banadir, Somalia), with onset of paralysis on 18 April. It is the first WPV in Somalia since March 2007. It is the first outbreak outside of an endemic country in 2013.
The child is a 32-month-old girl from Banadir region.
An outbreak response activity is being conducted this week (14-16 May), to reach 350,000 children across Banadir (including Mogadishu). Further campaigns are being planned.
In large areas of south-central Somalia, immunization campaigns have not been implemented since 2009 due to inaccessibility, affecting more than 500,000 children aged <5 years. Populations in this area are at particular risk of this polio outbreak. This is also the area affected by an ongoing cVDPV2 outbreak, which has resulted in 18 cases in the country since 2009 (most recent cVDPV2 case had onset of paralysis on 9 January 2013).

West Africa

No new WPV cases were reported in the past week. The most recent case in the region was a WPV1 from Tahoua province in Niger with onset of paralysis on 15 November 2012.
Multi-country immunization campaigns will be held on 24-27 May, using trivalent OPV, across West Africa. The activity follows a multi-country campaign at end-April in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali and Sierra Leone, to reach nearly 30 million children under the age of five years. Niger will conduct subnational immunization activities on 15-18 June.
Further multi-country campaigns are planned for September.