Mozambique confirms first wild poliovirus case in 30 years: What is it? How is it transmitted?

What is the News?

Recently, Mozambique has identified its first case of wild poliovirus Type 1 after a child contracted the disease. It is the country’s first such case since 1992 and the second imported case of wild poliovirus in Southern Africa this year. As of now, wild poliovirus is endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Note: Earlier an outbreak was reported in Malawi earlier this year.

What is polio?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Polio is a crippling and potentially deadly disease that affects the nervous system”.

Transmission: The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route. However, the virus also spreads through a common medium such as contaminated water or food.

The virus multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.

When is a country is declared polio-free?

There are three variants of the poliovirus, numbered 1 to 3. For a country to be declared polio-free, the wild transmission of all three kinds has to be stopped.

For eradication, cases of both wild and vaccine-derived polio infection have to be reduced to zero.

What is the status of polio in India?

India was declared polio-free in January 2014, after three years of zero cases. The last case due to wild poliovirus in the country was detected on January 13, 2011. The WHO on February 24, 2012, removed India from the list of countries with active endemic wild poliovirus transmission.

How did India achieve polio-free status?

Pulse Polio campaign: Under the Pulse Polio programme, all states and Union Territories have developed Rapid Response Teams (RRT) to respond to any polio outbreak in the country.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans (EPRP) have also been developed by states, indicating steps to be undertaken in case of detection of a polio case.

Mandatory Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV): To prevent the virus from coming to India, the government has since March 2014 made the Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) mandatory for those travelling between India and polio-affected countries, such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Syria and Cameroon.

Source: The post is based on the article “Mozambique confirms first wild poliovirus case in 30 years: What is it? How is it transmitted?” published in Indian Express on 21st May 2022.