Paralysis in Cross River “suspected polio” was only clubfoot

Evaluation has shown deformity in a two-year-old suspected to have been polio in Cross River state has nothing to do with the virus, health authorities said Thursday. It came after the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) dispatched assessment teams to the child’s remote village in Odukpani where the “suspected case of polio” was […]

Evaluation has shown deformity in a two-year-old suspected to have been polio in Cross River state has nothing to do with the virus, health authorities said Thursday.

It came after the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) dispatched assessment teams to the child’s remote village in Odukpani where the “suspected case of polio” was reported by news channels two days ago.

“The features found on this child were not consistent with those of poliomyelitis,” NPHCDA acting executive director Emmanuel Odu told a press briefing in Abuja.

“The two-year-old male child had a history of deformity, a twisted right foot, which was observed at birth for which he was attended by a local bone setter at the age of three weeks.”

The boy also had taken at least six doses of polio vaccine since birth and had no recent fevers.

Assessors found the boy had a clubfoot in his right leg, a condition in which one or both feet are twisted into an abnormal position, usually at birth, Odu explained.

By contrast, a leg paralysed by polio is flaccid—loose, weak, flabby and soft.

“There is no case of polio paralysis in Cross River and across the country, except for those we encountered in August,” Odu concluded.

Four cases of polio were recorded in remote parts of the northeast as humanitarian assistance reached previously cut-off enclaves occupied by Boko Haram.

“We will continue to search the nooks and crannies of the country for new cases,” said Odu, signalling continued surveillance.