The Yobe state government in northeastern Nigeria says it has recorded four new cases of polio in three local government areas (LGAs), three years after the state was declared polio-free.
However, the state government did not say whether the virus was the original poliovirus or vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), which is a rare case that occurs in vaccinated people.
Nigeria was declared polio-free in 2020 by the World Health Organization, but hundreds of cases of the vaccine-derived type have since been reported. Nigeria reported 1,028 cases of vaccine-derived polio in 2021 and another 170 cases in 2022.
On Saturday, the Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Board, Babagana Kundi-Machina, spoke about the new cases during the launch of an anti-disease campaign in Machina, an LGA bordering Niger Republic. .
“It is unfortunate that three years after obtaining polio-free certification, we have recorded an outbreak of circulating poliovirus in Bursari, Machina and Yusufari LGAs,” said Mr Kundi-Machina.
He said the state government, in collaboration with its partners, had launched a statewide vaccination and outbreak response exercise to address the situation.
WHO state coordinator Hamisu Alhassan pledged the organization's support to the state in containing the outbreak.
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Alhassan urged the public to adopt preventive measures, including personal and environmental hygiene, hand washing and immunization to boost immunity and promote good health, especially among women and children.
The Emir of Machina, Bashir Machinama, advised his people to cooperate with the government by accepting the vaccine.
Machinama thanked the state government for its prompt response and promised to sensitize his community to take appropriate measures to contain the disease.
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Millions of Nigerian children receive the polio vaccine annually. However, insecurity and doubts about vaccines mean that many children do not do so.
Newslodgewill provide more details of the new Yobe cases in subsequent reports.