The Yobe State government in north-eastern Nigeria has announced that it has recorded four new polio cases in three local government areas (LGAs), three years after the state was declared polio-free.
However, the state government has not said whether the virus is the original poliovirus or vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), which occurs in rare cases in vaccine recipients.
Nigeria was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization in 2020, but since then hundreds of cases of vaccine-derived polio have been reported. In Nigeria, 1,028 vaccine-associated polio cases were reported in 2021, and an additional 170 in 2022.
The Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Board, Babagana Kundi Makina, spoke of the new cases on Saturday while launching a campaign against the disease in Makina, a border local government with the Niger Republic.
“It is unfortunate that poliovirus outbreaks have been recorded in Bursari, Makina and Yusufari municipalities, three years after they were declared polio-free,” Kundi Makina said.
He said the state government, in collaboration with partners, has launched a state-wide outbreak response and vaccination exercise to address the situation.
WHO National Coordinator Hamis Alhassan pledged WHO’s support to countries in containing the outbreak.
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Mr. Alhassan appealed to the public to take preventive measures such as personal and environmental hygiene, hand washing and vaccination to strengthen immunity and improve health, especially women and children.
The Emir of Makina, Bashir Makinama, advised the people to cooperate with the government by accepting the vaccine.
Mr Machinama thanked the state government for its quick response and promised to sensitize the community to take appropriate measures to contain the disease.
Related article: Nigerian government partners with Bill Gates to fight new polio virus
Every year, millions of Nigerian children receive the polio vaccine. However, many children are unable to receive vaccinations due to insecurity and hesitancy towards vaccination.
PREMIUM TIMES will provide new Yobe incident details in future reports.
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