Africa now free of endemic wild polio virus, says WHO

Africa has been declared free of endemic “wild” polio after a three-decade campaign against a disease that once paralysed 75,000 children on the continent every year.

This makes the highly contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system the second to be eradicated from the continent after smallpox 40 years ago, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Africa director said on Tuesday. However, a minor strain still infects hundreds.

Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is an infectious disease transmitted from person-to-person mainly through faecal matter entering the mouth, with children younger than five years old being more likely to contract the virus than any other group.

One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, WHO estimates that five to 10 per cent die when their breathing muscles become immobilised.

“Now future generations of African children can live free of wild polio,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.

The achievement is a major step toward ridding the globe of the virus that causes the disabling — and sometimes deadly — disease: Only Afghanistan and Pakistan are still reporting cases, said the African Regional Certification Commission for Polio eradication (ARCC).

Daring methods

“Today is a historic day for Africa. The ARCC is pleased to announce that the region has successfully met the certification criteria for wild polio eradication, with no cases of the wild poliovirus reported in the region for four years,” said Prof Rose Gana Fomban Leke, ARCC chairperson.

The certification comes four years after Nigeria – the last polio-endemic country in Africa – recorded its last case of wild polio. It also means that five of the six WHO regions that represent over 90 per cent of the world’s population have eliminated wild polio.

Nigeria was a major sticking point on the continent after the northern part of the country boycotted the vaccine in 2003 because of rumours about its safety. As a result, an outbreak spread to 20 countries in five years.

In 2016, four new cases of wild polio virus were reported, compelling the global health infrastructure to pool resources to contain the situation, using satellite imagery, data analysis, and daring methods of getting to seemingly impossible-to-reach children.

However, challenges remain.

Dr Moeti warned that people must remain vigilant and countries must keep up vaccination rates to avert a resurgence.

There are still pockets of children who aren’t getting the polio vaccine, leading to outbreaks of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus.