Polio returns to Papua New Guinea after 18 years: WHO

A polio outbreak was confirmed in Papua New Guinea, the World Health Organization and the government said, with the virus detected in a child 18 years after the Pacific nation was declared free from the disease. disease.

The WHO said that there was a confirmed case – a six-year-old boy with lower limb weakness in Morobe province – with the disease detected late April, and paralysis associated with the confirmed virus in May. .

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the same virus was also isolated from stool samples from two healthy children in the same community, "representing an epidemic," he added. WHO.

"We are deeply concerned by this case of poliomyelitis in Papua New Guinea and the fact that the virus is circulating," PNG Health Minister Pascoe Kase said in a statement on Monday.

"Our immediate priority is to respond and prevent more children from being infected.

The measures taken to stop the spread of the highly contagious and disabling disease include conducting large-scale vaccination campaigns and strengthening surveillance systems that help detect it early.

Papua New Guinea has not had any cases of this disease since 1996 and was certified polio-free in 2000, as was the rest of the Western Pacific Region of WHO.

Immunization coverage against polio is low in Morobe province, on the northern coast of PNG, with only 61% of children receiving the three recommended doses, WHO said.

The international body added that inadequate sanitation and hygiene were also problems in the region.

The WHO said the isolation of the region and the planned vaccination activities meant that the risk of spreading the virus to other countries was low.

Affecting mainly children under five, polio – which has no cure and can only be prevented by giving a child multiple doses of vaccine – can lead to irreversible paralysis.

According to the WHO, the number of polio cases worldwide has decreased by more than 99% since 1988, from about 350,000 cases to 22 cases reported in 2017.

Only three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan – were considered polio-endemic by the WHO in March.

Papua New Guinea has not had any cases of this disease since 1996 and was certified polio-free in 2000, as was the rest of the Western Pacific Region of WHO.