Published Date: 2013-05-20 11:45:19 Subject: PRO/EAFR> Poliomyelitis, wild type - Kenya: (Dadaab Camp, Garissa) Archive Number: 20130520.323319
POLIOMYELITIS, WILD TYPE - KENYA: (DADAAB CAMP, GARISSA) ******************************************************** A ProMED-mail post http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org
Wild poliovirus in Kenya ------------------------ An investigation team is in Dadaab, Kenya following reports of a child paralyzed by wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). This is the 1st WPV case confirmed in Kenya since July 2011. The location is close to the border with Somalia, where a child was paralyzed by polio in the capital Mogadishu on [8 Apr 2013]. Dadaab hosts a major refugee camp, housing nearly 500 000 persons from across the Horn of Africa, including from Somalia.
An initial outbreak response is expected to start next week [week ending 26 May 2013], following international outbreak response standards. Somalia has already conducted an emergency response in the Banaadir region including and around Mogadishu.
Countries across the Horn of Africa are now at significant risk of this outbreak due to large-scale population movements and persistent immunity gaps in some areas. In 2005, polio spread from the Horn of Africa and across the Gulf of Aden to cause a devastating outbreak in Yemen, which left 479 children paralysed for life.
The adoption of international outbreak response standards and the development of new vaccines since then when fully implemented with high-quality vaccination operations have considerably reduced the severity and duration of such outbreaks.
[WHO recently issued a report confirming a new WPV1 case in a 32-month-old child from the Banaadir region of Somalia. If this case is eventually found to be genetically linked to this new WPV1 case confirmed in Dadaab, Kenya, then the 2 public health events will be closer to fulfilling the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern [PHEIC], which under the International Health Regulations (IHR [2005]) requires a coordinated international response involving synchronized outbreak response activities in the region. In any case, emergency response activities are already underway as molecular studies are finalized to guide decisions on the scale of the regional response.
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