Burundi declares circulating poliovirus outbreak: WHO
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 [March 17, 2023]
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -Health officials in Burundi on Friday
declared an outbreak of circulating poliovirus after confirming eight
cases, the first such detection in over three decades, the World Health
Organization said in a statement.
The WHO said the cases were confirmed in an unvaccinated four-year-old
boy in Isale district in western Burundi and two other children who were
his contacts.
"Additionally, five samples from environmental surveillance of
wastewater confirmed the presence of the circulating poliovirus type 2,"
it added.
Circulating poliovirus type 2 infections can occur when the weakened
strain of the virus contained in the oral polio vaccine circulates among
under-immunized populations for long periods.
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A logo is pictured at the World Health
Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, December 14, 2022.
REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
(Reporting by Bhargav AcharyaEditing by Alexander Winning)
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