Wild Polio Virus Summary:
New wild poliovirus isolates reported this week:
AFP cases: 0
Environment: 3
Others: 0
New cVDPV isolates reported this week:
AFP cases 3
Environment: 5
Others:  1

Headlines:

• “While the challenges before us are formidable and complex, I remain cautiously optimistic about the goal of interrupting transmission of poliovirus in Pakistan by the end of this year. This will require solidarity and collective action at all levels to enable rigorous implementation of the strategy, that must be fully supported by communities and the political, administrative and security leadership,” – WHO Regional Director Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari. Read more…
• Health teams in Sudan are going to extraordinary levels of coordination to detect polio amidst the conflict. Part of this work includes sending stool samples of children presenting with acute flaccid paralysis, a symptom of polio, across states for testing to the Argeen point of entry with Egypt. Read more…
• nOPV2 rollout: Approximately 700 million doses of nOPV2 have been administered across 31 countries under its WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to date. An additional 14 countries have met the requirements for nOPV2 use in the event of an outbreak. More information on nOPV2 is available here.

Summary of new polioviruses this week:
Afghanistan: three WPV1 positive environmental samples
Algeria: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
Burundi: one cVDPV2 positive environmental sample
DR Congo: one cVDPV2 case
Nigeria: two cVDPV2 cases and three cVDPV2 positive environmental samples

Afghanistan:

• No wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was reported this week. There have been five WPV1 cases reported this year all from Nangarhar province.
• Nangarhar was covered during the recent subnational immunization days (SNIDs) in May, as part of intensified efforts to interrupt persistent local WPV1 transmission in the area.
• Three WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported; one in Balkh and two in Nangarhar. There have been 32 positive environmental samples reported this year.

Pakistan:

• No WPV1 case was reported this week. There has been one WPV1 case in 2023 reported from Bannu, part of the seven polio-endemic districts located in the southern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• There have been 12 WPV1 environmental samples reported in the country this year.
• Intensified efforts continue to be implemented in the country, particularly in the southern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to urgently eradicate the remaining endemic WPV1 transmission. Since January 2021, all reported cases have been from seven polio-endemic districts in the southern area of Khyber Pahktunkhwa (out of a total of 171 districts nationwide).

Officially reported WPV1 and cVDPV cases as of July 25, 2023:
Wild poliovirus (WPV)
Total global WPV1 cases in 2023: 6 (compared with 18 or the same period in 2022)
Total global WPV1 cases in 2022: 30
Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus (cVDPV) cases
Total global cVDPV cases in 2023: 170 (compared with 186 for the same period in 2022)
Total global cVDPV cases in 2022: 870