Wild poliovirus (WPV), the pathogen responsible for poliomyelitis, has officially been "eradicated" from the African continent, according to the WHO. Despite many obstacles, years of vaccination efforts have finally paid off.
It's official:all countries on the African continent have eradicated wild poliovirus (WPV). The African Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) made the announcement on Tuesday at an event hosted by WHO. The last case was recorded in 2016 in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.
“Today, members of the Africa Region Certification Commission [the ARCC, a WHO certification body] say that transmission of the wild poliovirus has been interrupted in Africa” , said its president, Dr. Rose Leke. “Thanks to the efforts of governments, health workers and communities, more than 1.8 million children have been saved” of this disease, rejoiced the WHO in a press release.
Wild poliovirus, one of the three strains responsible for poliomyelitis, is an extremely infectious virus that attacks the nerve cells of the spinal cord . It then sometimes leads to partial or complete paralysis , especially among younger people. Some, whose muscles that support breathing remain frozen, can also die.
The pathogen is extremely contagious, capable of being spread when food, water or objects contaminated with the feces of an infected subject are brought to the mouth. Less commonly, the virus can spread when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
Although there is no specific treatment for polio, a full course of polio vaccinations is over 99% effective in preventing infection.
To "extinguish" wild poliovirus in Nigeria, national governments and other local leaders integrating the Global Polio Eradication Initiative coordinated a childhood vaccination campaign in Borno State, in the northeast of the country.
Stakeholders had to face various threats posed by the Boko Haram insurgency present in the region. To protect health care workers, military and approved militia by the government acted as escorts, explains to Reuters Dr. Tunji Funsho, a Nigerian polio coordinator for Rotary International.
The balance sheet remains heavy, despite everything. «U around 20 medical staff or volunteers were killed in the region for this cause over the past few years" , emphasizes Dr. Musa Idowu Audu, WHO coordinator for Borno State.
Furthermore, some local communities also seemed opposed to the vaccination effort due to concerns about its side effects. For years, jihadists have indeed condemned this approach, arguing that it was a plot to sterilize Muslims.
“Several polio survivors integrated into the intervention teams finally helped to gain the trust of the communities locales , Misbahu Lawan Didi, president of the Nigerian Association of Polio Survivors, tells BBC News .
Today, an estimated 30,000 children still remain "inaccessible" In the region. However, this number remains “too low” to ensure epidemic transmission, according to scientific experts. Now, only two countries still have WPV infections:Afghanistan and Pakistan, which recorded 29 and 58 cases respectively in 2020.
