5 takeaways from the recent discovery of polio virus in Borno

There were reports on Thursday that the Federal Government had discovered an outbreak of Wild Polio Virus in Borno State.

According to the reports, the outbreak affected two children from Gwoza and Jere Local Government Areas of the state.

Polio has been known to be an highly infectious disease caused by a virus of which attacks children, mainly those under five years old.

It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours.

The most fearful aspect of the virus is that it can be spread through person-to-person contact.

Read five takeaways from the recent discovery of the virus in Borno State.

  1. Polio was last discovered in Nigeria in July 2014. The World Health Organization had declared that the country no longer had endemic polio on September 25, 2015.

Before the new cases, Nigeria was on track to be declared polio free on July 24, 2017. A country must not have any case for at least three years to be declared polio-free.

2. The Federal Government has directed the deployment of a national emergency response team comprising the government and partners (WHO and UNICEF) to Borno state for immediate and robust polio vaccination campaign, targeting eligible children to prevent the spread of the virus locally and internationally.

About one million children would be immunized in four local governments in Borno state. Children in adjoining states of Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe will also be immunized bringing the number to about five million in the four states.

3. In 2012, Nigeria accounted for more than half of all polio cases worldwide, but has made significant strides in recent years, going two years without a single case.

4. Microsoft owner, Bill Gates, through his Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had donated over $50 million dollars to fight polio in Nigeria. The commitment was signed in 2009 and revalidated in 2011.

Bill Gates also visited Nigeria in January 2016 and commended the Nigerian Government for its successful fight over the virus. The world richest man also took to Twitter to share the country’s success story.

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5. Having investigated the re-emergence of the polio outbreak, it was discovered that the children have type one of the virus which was what the country was battling with before.

Type One is endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The World Health Organization has said that it was not transported from either of the country, meaning Nigeria was never polio free.

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