The World Health Organization says Nigeria has reported the first two cases of polio in the country after more than two years.
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“The overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in the affected areas to ensure that no more child is affected by this awful disease”, Adewole said.
This is an endemic virus – and was not brought in from elsewhereHaving investigated the polio caught by the children, World Health Organization officials say it is clear that they have type one of the virus – type two was last seen in India in 1999 and was declared eradicated last September, and type three has not been seen since 2011.
The Minister said: “The detection of children paralyzed by polio shows that surveillance has increased with more access but it is a reminder that the country needs to remain vigilant and immunize all eligible children with oral polio vaccine until polio is completely eradicated worldwide”.
The Director of Polio Eradication at WHO Headquarters, Dr. Michel Zaffran, revealed that genetic sequencing of the viruses were linked to a wild polio virus strain that was detected in Borno in 2011.
Two decades ago, it was recording 1,000 polio cases a year, the highest in the world. Adding that he had directed the deployment of emergency medical response team to the area to avert any cases of local or global spread of the virus.
It is most common in children and spreads in areas with poor sanitation, linking its transmission to conflict.
Troops have carried out mine and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) clearance in Gombori belonging to the Boko Haram terrorists.
It said two children had been paralysed by the disease in the north-eastern Borno state, a part of Nigeria where Boko Haram militants are active. The Associated Press reported Friday that Nigeria is using military helicopters rush polio vaccines to Boko Haram-infested areas, where the children were paralyzed. Only 21 cases have been reported in 2016, compared to 34 cases by this time previous year. In the other young patient, who developed symptoms of paralysis July 6, the virus could not be found in a stool sample, but the disease was confirmed when a healthy child contact tested positive. Since then, however, the West African country has made great strides in eliminating the virus, and even recently celebrated going two years without a case just last month.
“Despite significant progress against the virus in Nigeria and the entire continent of Africa, these cases further demonstrate that governments, partners and the GPEI must work together and redouble efforts to stop polio for good”, it said.
Health workers vaccinating children against polio in Nigeria.
He said, “We are confident that with a swift response and strong collaboration with the Nigerian Government, we can soon rid the country of polio once and for all”. If this is true, the disease has circulated the area for 5 years and the number of expected cases rises.
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The two reported cases are children, now paralyzed, in northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram activity is rampant.
