Polio broke out in Mozambique with the virus being detected in a child living in the northeastern province of Tete. This is the first case of the disease in the country in almost three decades, pointed out the World Health Organization (WHO).
The second case of wild-type polio in South Africa this year, following the discovery of another in Malawi in February, involved a child who began showing symptoms of paralysis in late March, the WHO said.
“The detection of another case of her wild type polio “It’s very worrying in Africa. (…) It proves how dangerous this virus is and how fast it can spread,” said Machidisco Moeti, WHO director for Africa.
Irreversible paralysis within a few hours
The polio virus enters the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within a few hours. It can not be cured, but the infection can be prevented through vaccination. The dramatic decline in cases worldwide in recent decades is due to intensive national and international child and infant vaccination campaigns.
The case of Malawi has caused concern because in 2020 Africa was declared free of the “wild” type of polio virus, which remains endemic in only two countries worldwide: Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan completed January 2022 a year without any cases of the disease.
According to the genetic test carried out in the case of Mozambique, this seems to be related to the strain of the polio virus that was circulating in the province of Sindh in Pakistan in 2019 and which was also detected in Malawi.
Source: News Beast
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