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. 2020 Nov 20;69(46):1748-1752.
doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6946a5.

Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication - Pakistan, January 2019-September 2020

Christopher H Hsu, Muhammad Shafiq-Ur Rehman, Kelley Bullard, Jaume Jorba, Milhia Kader, Hamish Young, Muhammad Safdar, Hamid S Jafari, Derek Ehrhardt

Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication - Pakistan, January 2019-September 2020

Christopher H Hsu et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) is endemic (1,2). In 2019, Pakistan reported 147 WPV1 cases, approximately 12 times the number reported in 2018. As of September 15, 72 cases had been reported in 2020. Since 2019, WPV1 transmission has also spread from Pakistan's core poliovirus reservoirs (Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta block) to southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab, and Sindh provinces. Further, an outbreak of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), first detected in July 2019, has caused 22 paralytic cases in 2019 and 59 as of September 15, 2020, throughout the country. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has substantially reduced delivery of polio vaccines through essential immunization (formerly routine immunization) and prevented implementation of polio supplementary immunization activities (SIAs)* during March-July 2020. This report describes Pakistan's progress in polio eradication during January 2019-September 2020 and updates previous reports (1,3,4). The Pakistan polio program has reinitiated SIAs and will need large, intensive, high-quality campaigns with strategic use of available oral poliovirus vaccines (OPVs)† to control the surge and widespread transmission of WPV1 and cVDPV2.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases, by month — Pakistan, January 2016–September 2020
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Location of cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), by province and period — Pakistan, January 2019–September 2020
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

    1. Hsu CH, Kader M, Mahamud A, et al. Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication—Pakistan, January 2018–September 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2019;68:1029–33. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6845a5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
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    1. Hsu C, Mahamud A, Safdar M, et al. Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication—Pakistan, January 2017–September 2018. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2018;67:1242–5. 10.15585/mmwr.mm6744a5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
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