The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said Mozambique has detected its first case of wild poliovirus in three decades, reported Reuters.
The health authorities confirmed that a child in the country’s north-eastern Tete province was diagnosed with the disease.
“The detection of another case of wild poliovirus in Africa is greatly concerning, even if it’s unsurprising given the recent outbreak in Malawi,” WHO Africa chief Matshidiso Moeti said.
This is the second imported case of wild poliovirus in southern Africa this year. Malawi declared an outbreak in mid-February.
Mozambique’s health authorities have begun investigations to determine the extent of the risk posed by the new wild poliovirus case and the targeted responses needed.
Wild polioviruses are viruses that occur naturally in the community and is transmitted mainly via contaminated water and food, or through contact form an infected person.
Africa was declared free of indigenous wild poliovirus in August 2020 after eliminating all forms of wild polio from the region. Zero polio cases were reported in the continent during the previous four years.
The WHO stressed that the case in Mozambique and the earlier one in Malawi do not affect Africa’s wild poliovirus-free certification, because the virus strain is not indigenous.
The lab tests have confirmed that the case detected in Mozambique was linked to a strain that had circulated in Pakistan and led to the case reported in Malawi.
Many southern African countries have already launched polio vaccination campaigns. Malawi and its other four neighbouring countries include Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe plan to immunize 23 million children aged five years or below.
The WHO said Mozambique hopes to vaccinate 4.2 million children against polio in the coming weeks.
“As long as a single child remains infected with poliovirus, children in all countries are at risk of contracting the disease,” the UN health body noted on its website.
