Nigeria and the African area were proclaimed WPV-free in 2020 after a rigorous verification and certification process by the African Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (ARCC) that covered three years of no WPV discovery.
According to DR. Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), there has never been a case of WPV being isolated anywhere in the country.
He made this known in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Abuja, saying, Nigeria and the African area were declared WPV-free on August 25, 2020, ensuring that the country’s polio-free status is not jeopardized.
The statement reads; “The NPHCDA’s attention has been attracted to stories in some sectors of the media alleging that a new polio variety has emerged in various states.This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. For the avoidance of doubt, no case of WPV has been reported anywhere in the country since the last case in 2016.
“What is being misconstrued for an outbreak of WPV is the detection, through our robust disease surveillance system of 22 cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis, spread across seven (7) States (Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara). These non-wild polio viruses originated as a result of normal changes in the reproduction of viruses. These viruses are not as virulent as WPV and are also being reported in other countries. Working with our donors and development partners, Nigeria has already acquired new tools and resources to ensure these viruses are contained.
“NPHCDA assures Nigerians that the Agency and partners will continue to conduct surveillance and vaccination campaigns in order to prevent and contain any possible importation of the Wild Polio Virus”.
