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 The announcement by the Global Commission for the Certification of
Poliomyelitis Eradication means that only wild polio virus type 1 is
still circulating, after type 2 was declared eradicated in 2015, and
type 3 this week.
Global polio cases have been cut by more than 99% since 1988, but
type 1 polio virus is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan,
where it has infected a total of 88 people this year. That is a
resurgence from a record low global annual figure of 22 cases in
2017.
"The eradication of wild polio virus type 3 is a major milestone
toward a polio-free world, but we cannot relax," said Matshidiso
Moeti, the WHO regional director for Africa.
Seth Berkley, chief executive of the GAVI vaccine alliance, said it
was "a tremendous victory in the fight against polio".
Polio invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible
paralysis within hours. It cannot be cured, but infection can be
prevented by vaccination - and a dramatic reduction in cases
worldwide in recent decades has been due to intense national and
regional immunization campaigns in babies and children.
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In unvaccinated populations, however, polio viruses can re-emerge
and spread swiftly. Cases of vaccine-derived polio can also occur in
places where immunity is low and sanitation is poor, as vaccinated
people can excrete the virus, putting the unvaccinated at risk.
The Philippines last month said it was planning an emergency
vaccination campaign after polio re-surfaced and caused the first
two recorded polio cases there for 20 years.
Moeti urged governments to be vigilant: "Countries must strengthen
routine immunization to protect communities, ramp up routine
surveillance so that we are able to detect even the slightest risk
of polio re-emerging," she said in a statement.
(Editing by David Evans)
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