Ghana issues polio alert after confirmed case

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_th...t_75132256.htm

Ghana issues polio alert after confirmed case
Xinhua, August 24, 2019

ACCRA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Ghana Health Service (GHS) on Friday said it was working with its partners to contain an outbreak of polio in Chereponi, some 610 km north of Accra, the first in Ghana for over one decade, and to prevent and protect against its spread.

The assurance follows the national polio laboratory confirmation of an outbreak in the area after stool samples from a two-year-eight-month-old girl, who was seen at the hospital with sudden onset of weakness in both lower limbs, tested positive.

In a statement, signed by its Director-General, Anthony Nsiah-Asare, the GHS said it had taken immediate actions including the deployment of a national team to assist health professionals in the locale to carry out a detailed investigation...

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Circulating vaccine derived
poliovirus type 2 Ghana

Case 1

Deaths 0

CFR 0%

EVENT DESCRIPTION

On 23 August 2019, the Ministry of Health in Ghana notified WHO
of a confirmed case of circulating vaccine derived poliovirus type 2
(cVDPV2) in Chereponi District, Northern Region. The case-patient
is a two-year-old girl from Andonyama community who developed
acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) on 23 July 2019 and presented to
Chereponi district hospital on 27 July 2019. Two serial stool samples
collected on 27 and 28 July 2019 were shipped to the national polio
laboratory at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research
(NMIMR). Test results released on 17 August 2019 confirmed
cVDPV2 with 25-nucleotide change from the Sabin 2 vaccine strain
and six nucleotides from the closest matching sequence of the 2018
AFP case from Kwara State, Nigeria.

This event comes in the aftermath of the confirmation, on 8 July
2019, of cVDPV2 from an environmental sample collected from
Koblimaghu in Tamale Metropolis, Northern Region of Ghana on
11 June 2019. The latest confirmed poliovirus has six-nucleotide
differences (with 99.3% similarity) from the strain isolated in the
environmental sample. Ghana reported the last case of poliovirus
in November 2008, when a wild poliovirus type 1 was isolated from
a human sample in Zabzungu-Tatale District, Northern Region. The
country switched from trivalent oral polio vaccine (tOPV) to bOPV
on 14 April 2016 and introduced inactivated polio vaccine into
routine immunization on 1 June 2018.

Further epidemiological and virology investigations and risk
assessment are ongoing, and updates will be provided as new
information becomes available.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS

On 23 August 2019, the Director General of Ghana Health
Services/Ministry of Health issued a press release, declaring
a public health event of national concern and informing the
public of the cVDPV outbreak.

An emergency National Technical Coordinating Committee
meeting was held on 19 August 2019, with representatives
from MoH/GHS, WHO, UNICEF and CDC to coordinate and
strategize response to the outbreak.

On 20 August 2019, a national rapid response team
comprising of experts from MoH, WHO, CDC, Noguchi Polio
Laboratory was deployed to conduct outbreak investigation,
risk assessment and support local response by the regional
and district teams.

Active surveillance, including active case search has been
enhanced in the affected region and nationally.

A communication plan has been developed to enhance
public information campaign through radios, television and
information materials.

The national polio laboratory has deployed the necessary
logistics to obtain additional samples for testing to support
ongoing outbreak investigation and risk assessment.

SITUATION INTERPRETATION

Ghana has confirmed a new outbreak of cVDPV2, coming shortly after isolating
a similar pathogen in an environmental sample in the same region (but different
district). This event signifies the increasing potential for wider spread of
circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus in the sub-region. It is important that all
countries in the African region strengthen AFP surveillance to rapidly detect any
new virus importation and to facilitate a rapid response. All countries should
also maintain uniformly high routine immunization coverage at the district level
to minimize the consequences of any new virus introduction.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/326596/OEW34-1925082019.pdf

https://www.afro.who.int/node/11652

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WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 45: 4 November – 10 November 2019
Data as reported by: 17:00; 10 November 2019

(Page 11)

Ghana Poliomyelitis

(cVDPV2) Ungraded 9-Jul-19 8-Jul-19 6-Nov-19 5 5 0 0.00%

Two cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported this week; one each from Tamale Metropolitan and Central Gonja in the Northern province.
The onsets of paralysis were 24 September and 4 October 2019. There are five cVDPV2 cases in 2019 linked to the Jigawa outbreak in Nigeria.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329898/OEW45-0410112019.pdf

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WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 48: 25 November - 1 December 2019
Data as reported by: 17:00; 1 December 2019
...

cVDPV2 Ghana

9 Cases
0 Deaths
0% CFR

EVENT DESCRIPTION

The Ministry of Health in Ghana reported four new confirmed
paralytic cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2
(cVDPV2), one each from Savelugu District in Northern Region,
Jaman North in Bono Region, Nkwanta North in Oti Region and
Gonja Central District in Savannah Region. The dates of onset of
paralysis in the reported cases ranged between 8 and 23 October
2019.

In a related event, two environmental samples collected from
Ayawaso East Municipal, Greater Accra Region tested positive
for cVDPV2. The samples were collected on 23 October 2019.
Since 8 July 2019, when cVDPV2 was first isolated in an
environmental sample collected from Tamale Municipal in
Northern Region, a total of nine paralytic cases of cVDPV2 have
been confirmed in Ghana. The other districts that previously
confirmed cVDPV2 are Chereponi in North East Region; Saboba,
Kumbungu and Tamale in Northern Region; and Gonja Central
in Savannah Region. Additionally, cVDPV2 had previously
been isolated from an environmental sample collected from
Agbobloshie and Nima Free Town in Greater Accra Region and
Nyanshegu in Northern Region. The strain of the vaccine-derived
poliovirus type 2 circulating in Ghana is linked to the Jigawa
outbreak in Nigeria, which is circulating in many other countries.
Further investigations and risk assessment into the events are
ongoing and an update will be provided as new information
comes available.

PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIONS

The National Technical Coordinating Committee continues
to hold coordination meetings to strategize, plan, implement
and monitor the response to the cVDPV2 outbreak in the
country.

On 20 August 2019, a national rapid response team
comprising experts from MOH, WHO, CDC, Noguchi Polio
Laboratory was deployed to conduct outbreak investigation,
risk assessment and support local response by the regional
and district teams.

Multi-disciplinary rapid response teams from Ghana MOH,
WHO, CDC and UNICEF have been deployed to the affected
districts and regions to conduct detailed investigations and
risk assessments, and support local response, including
plan to carry out reactive vaccination campaigns in the newly
affected and surrounding high risk districts.

The Ministry of Health in Ghana, with the support of
Gavi, UNICEF, WHO and other partners, plans to conduct
a nationwide inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) catch-up
campaign targeting about 2.4 million vulnerable children of
birth cohorts between 2016 and February 2018 who missed
IPV vaccination because of operations challenges.

Response activities in the other affected regions are being coordinated
effectively through regional emergency operations centres.

Enhanced surveillance activities including active case search for acute flaccid
paralysis are ongoing. Environmental surveillance for poliovirus is being
strengthened in all sentinel sites.

Risk communication and social mobilization activities are ongoing in the
whole country.

SITUATION INTERPRETATION

Health authorities in Ghana reported four new paralytic cases of cVDPV2, scattered
across the country. In addition, cVDPV2 has been isolated from two environmental
samples collected from a sentinel site in Greater Accra Region. With these, the
number of cVDPV2 events is rapidly growing in Ghana, signifying a much deeper
diffusion of the pathogen in the community and thus increasing potential for wider
spread. Response efforts are ongoing to control the outbreak, with four rounds of
monovalent oral poliovirus type 2 (OPV2) vaccination carried out. Preparations are
also ongoing to conduct a country-wide IPV vaccination exercise. It is important for
Ghana and indeed all the countries in the region to step up efforts to improve their
routine immunization coverage to a minimum of 95% in all districts to minimize
the consequences of any new virus introduction. Attaining this target has not been
easy in many countries for various reasons including fragile health systems, conflicts
and social disruption, insecurity, etc. Additionally, all countries in the African region
should strengthen AFP surveillance to rapidly detect any new virus importation and
to facilitate a rapid response.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330027/OEW48-02122019.pdf

[Shiloh]

Source: https://ghananewsagency.org/health/s...n-ghana-161327

Surge in new Polio cases in Ghana
By Lydia Kukua Asamoah, GNA

Accra, Dec 16, GNA - There has been a surge in the number of polio cases across the country since July this year, and this has been an issue of concern for both the Government and other health partners.

Government and donor partners, are therefore, making frantic efforts at addressing the issue while the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and its partners have embarked on a number of measures to contain the situation.

In some few years back, the country was nearly declared polio-free as it had chalked a lot of success in eradicating the disease, and so the current trend is disturbing phenomenon for most stakeholders in the health sector.

Briefing journalists on the status of the Polio disease in the country, Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, Director, Diseases Control, GHS, ”said the new virus started as a case from the environment seen in Tamale and later some cases was seen in humans”.

He said at now there have been 10 cases reported in humans while some viruses from the environment have been isolated...

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WEEKLY BULLETIN ON OUTBREAKS
AND OTHER EMERGENCIES
Week 51: 16 - 22 December 2019
Data as reported by: 17:00; 22 December 2019
...
Ghana Poliomyelitis

(cVDPV2) Grade 2 09-Jul-19 08-Jul-19 18-Dec-19 9 9 0 0.00%

Two new case of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) cases were reported in the past week. There are 11 cVDPV2 cases in 2019 linked to the Jigawa
outbreak in Nigeria.

https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330302/OEW51-23122019.pdf

[Shiloh]

Source: https://allafrica.com/stories/202001090299.html

Ghana: Polio Recorded in 3 Regions ... 2 Die, 1 in Critical Condition
9 January 2020
Ghanaian Times (Accra)
By Daniel Dzirasah

Sunyani — Three cases of poliomyelitis with two deaths have been recorded in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions.

The first case reported in the Bono Region, was a 24-month-old girl from Asiri in Goka, a sub district in the Jaman North District.

The second case was a 33-month-old girl resident in Sissala line in the Techiman West sub municipality in the Bono East Region and the third case was a 37-month-old boy from Kwasuso in the Asutifi South District of the Ahafo Region...

...According to the Bono Regional Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the cases were detected in October and November last year with the latest one in January 2020...