Alarming polio epidemic

June 23, 2004
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Kathmandu: Epidemiologists ‘alarmed’ by continuing spread of virus – warn thousands of children could be paralyzed across west and central Africa.

Geneva – Epidemiologists of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative today issued a stark warning that west and central Africa is on the brink of the largest polio epidemic in recent years. The warning follows confirmation today that a child was paralyzed on 20 May by polio in the Darfur region of the Sudan, a country which had not seen the disease in more than three years. The virus is closely linked genetically to poliovirus endemic to northern Nigeria, which has spread through Chad in recent months.

Epidemiological data show that transmission of wild poliovirus continues to accelerate at an alarming rate in the region. In addition to the re-infection of the Sudan, five times as many children in west and central

Africa have been paralyzed by polio so far in 2004 compared to the same period in 2003. 197 children have been paralyzed in Nigeria, following the suspension of polio immunization campaigns in northern Nigeria late last year.

“There is no question that the virus is spreading at an alarming pace,” said communicable disease expert Dr David Heymann, the World Health Organization’s Representative for Polio Eradication. “The fact that the Sudan is now re-infected is concrete evidence of the need to support a massive immunization response right across west and central Africa.” Heymann stressed the re-infection of the Sudan is the latest setback to the strong progress Africa had achieved in eradicating polio. “At the beginning of 2003, only two countries in sub-Saharan Africa were polio-endemic. Today, however, Africa accounts for nearly 90% of the global polio burden, with children now paralyzed in ten previously polio-free countries across the continent.”

Epidemiologists fear that a major epidemic this autumn (during the polio ‘high season’) would leave thousands of African children paralyzed for life. Children are particularly vulnerable in west and central African countries, surrounding Nigeria, as less than half of children in the region are routinely immunized against a series of diseases, including polio. In response to this threat, they recommended plans to hold massive, synchronized immunization campaigns across 22 African countries in October and November, aiming to reach 74 million children. These campaigns could avert a public health tragedy.