One year after Nigeria was certified polio-free by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the country is back on the map, as Adamawa State has confirmed four new cases.
The Executive Chairman, Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Sulaiman Bashir, announced four new cases of circulating vaccine derived polio virus on Monday.
Bashir said although Nigeria was certified a wild polio-free country on August 25, 2020, the state recently recorded four new cases.
He said, “Although 99.9 per cent of Polio has been wiped out with the oral polio vaccine, in rare cases when enough children are not reached, other forms of the virus will continue to circulate.
“Sadly, four cases of Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus type 2 (CVDPV) were reported in Adamawa; there were one case in Gombi and 3 cases in Yola South Local Government Areas.
“To overcome the problem, two rounds of polio vaccination campaign which included outbreak response with the NOPV2 vaccine were conducted in the state.
“The rapid response was to help curtail the circulation of all forms of polioviruses in the state.”
Bashir assured that his agency would continue to partner stakeholders at all levels to ensure vaccination of every child in the state.
WHO’s official, Dr Semeeh Omoleke, who confirmed that Nigeria was certified free of wild poliovirus, admitted the latest outbreak.
He said, “Nigeria is currently facing outbreaks of Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus and four cases were confirmed in Adamawa.
“The current situation calls for collective actions by government at all levels and Health Development partners”, he said.
