Polio Outbreak Ends in One African Country

The eastern Africa Federal Republic of Somalia’s outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) has been declared 'closed' by the Director of Polio Eradication for World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region on April 14, 2021.

According to an article published by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Dr. Hamid Jafari confirmed a full twenty-eight months have passed since this strain of polio was last detected in Somalia.

However, the U.S. CDC issued a Level 2 Travel Alert on April 12, 2021, stating 'there are vaccine-derived polio outbreaks in many countries in Africa.'

Although wild-type polio was eradicated in Africa in 2020, vaccine-derived poliovirus can cause outbreaks in places where vaccination rates are low, says the CDC.

Outbreaks of vaccine-derived poliovirus have been reported in the African countries highlighted on the CDC map. The WHO recommends that these countries require residents and long-term (4+ weeks) visitors to show proof of polio vaccination before leaving the country.

Furthermore, before traveling to these countries, the CDC recommends adults who completed their routine polio vaccine series as children should receive a single, lifetime adult booster dose of a polio vaccine.

Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly disease that affects the nervous system. Most people with polio do not feel sick.

Some people have only minor symptoms. In rare cases, polio infection causes permanent loss of muscle function (paralysis). Polio can be fatal if the muscles used for breathing are paralyzed or an infection of the brain, says the CDC.