The World Health Organisation has confirmed a third case of polio in Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State.
In a statement on Monday, the organisation said the third was discovered in a two-year-old boy who had suffered paralysis in the Internally Displaced Persons’ Camp in the state.
WHO experts and officials from Rotary International health agency who currently immunising kids in the northeastern states warned that the viral infection may have spread to many states in the region.
Stephanie Mucznik, spokesperson for Rotary international health agency, the latest case is closely linked to the two cases recorded in Borno state in August.
According to Mucznik, “The third child has been paralysed by wild polio virus type one in Borno state. It’s all linked to the same outbreak. Detection of new cases is not unexpected and can be anticipated, particularly as disease surveillance is being strengthened, including by conducting retrospective case searches.”
“The three cases appear to come from the same strain of the disease circulating in the North East for years.Genetic sequencing of the isolated viruses suggests they are most closely linked to WPV1 last detected in Borno in 2011, indicating the strain has been circulating without detection since that time.”
Nigeria recorded two new cases of the wild polio virus in August, two years after the country was certified polio free.
