Polio now in 10 countries instead of 3 – WHO

In a statement issued by the Director of Communications, WHO, Christy Feig, the organization pointed out that the polio states are Afghanistan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic.  According to the director, drastic measures need to be put in place so as to prevent further spread of the […]

In a statement issued by the Director of Communications, WHO, Christy Feig, the organization pointed out that the polio states are Afghanistan, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic.  
According to the director, drastic measures need to be put in place so as to prevent further spread of the virus especially with the onset of the high transmission season in May/June 2014.
The organization said that unilateral measures may prove less effective in stopping international spread other than a coordinated response.
The statement added that given the international spread of the disease it posed a risk for new wild polio virus exportation this year because at the end of  last year, 2013, 60 per cent of polio cases were the result of international spread of wild poliovirus, and there was increasing evidence that adult travellers contributed to this spread.
The statement further observed that during the 2014 low transmission season,  there has already been international spread of wild poliovirus from  three of the 10 states that are currently infected: in central Asia (from Pakistan to Afghanistan), in the Middle East (Syrian Arab Republic to Iraq) and in Central Africa (Cameroon to Equatorial Guinea).
Feng said that Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Israel, Somalia and particularly Nigeria,  are states infected with wild poliovirus  and not currently exporting but, however,  pose an ongoing risk for new wild poliovirus exportations in 2014.