Border surveillance for polio increased
Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko, who said Kenya has increased polio surveillance on its borders after an outbreak of the disease was reported in Nigeria. FILE PHOTO |
What you need to know:
- Sewer samples were collected from Nairobi’s Kibera, Eastleigh and Mathare sub-counties.
- Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
Kenya has increased cross-border surveillance for polio to prevent the virus from crossing into the country, the Health ministry has said.
According to Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko, the move is aimed at protecting the country from a polio outbreak as porous borders remain a major risk of disease transmission.
This follows a confirmed outbreak in Nigeria after the disease left two children paralysed.
Speaking at the opening of a polio Technical Advisory Group (Tag) meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday, Dr Kioko said outbreaks in Pakistan, Afghanistan and recently in Nigeria were a reminder of the need for extra vigilance.
“The outbreak is an immediate threat to all regional countries due to the current nature of global trade and travel networks,” he said.
Amid rising concerns over the risk of a potential re-introduction of polio in the continent, representatives at the meeting drawn from countries in the Horn of Africa met to review the progress made in surveillance, level of immunity, preparedness, and the status of global polio eradication with particular emphasis to Nigeria and the Lake Chad region.
“As long as a single child remains infected with polio anywhere in the world, children in other countries remain at risk of contracting the disease,” said Dr Kioko.
In December, experts from the Kenya Medical Research Institute and the Centre for Disease Control reported traces of a vaccine-derived polio virus in environmental samples collected in Eastleigh and Mathare sub-counties.
Sewer samples were collected from Nairobi’s Kibera, Eastleigh and Mathare sub-counties.
Compared with samples collected in Kibera, the researchers said the polio virus samples from Eastleigh and Mathare had “mutated and reversed to virulence,” meaning that without good population immunity, it (the virus) had the potential of causing an outbreak.
Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted from person-to-person mainly through consumption of faecal matter.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.
Over the years, polio cases have dropped by 99 per cent from 350,000 in 1988 to 74 cases in 2015. Today, 80 per cent of the world’s population live in polio-free regions.
