Abuja — On the 25th day of August 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) Africa region was certified polio free by the Africa Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication (ARCC), as Nigeria achieved the wild polio virus free status. Professor Oyewale Tomori, a leading virologist who helped spearhead Nigeria’s effort to kick out polio from the […]
By Joseph Erunke Abuja — The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has said a total of 120 children in Nigeria have been infected with environmental poliovirus. The children, according to the agency of the United Nations,are not in particular region but scattered across different parts of the country. UNICEF Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, revealed this […]
By Melinda Suchard and Wayne Howard The 25th of August marks the first anniversary of a milestone that took over 30 years to achieve. Africa being free from polio – a disease that has caused death and paralysis throughout recorded history. Polio is a viral illness that can cause sudden weakness, permanent paralysis, or death in people […]
The Gambia declared a “public health emergency” on Wednesday after two cases of poliovirus were found in environmental sewage samples. A new sampling policy was put in place in the Gambia in May, with the support of the World Health Organization. “Two samples taken from sewers in Banjul and Kotu (a tourist town near Banjul) […]
By Esther Oluka The Ministry of Health has confirmed a polio outbreak in the country. The polioviruses were established on July 21 from two samples collected on June 1 from the sewage plants of Bugolobi and Lubigi in Kampala. “The results confirmed a circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus Type 2 in Uganda. The virus sequencing […]
