Six countries reported more polio cases this week, including Afghanistan and Pakistan with more cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), according to the latest weekly update from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).

Afghanistan reported two new WPV1 cases, one in Kandahar and one in Hilmand, bringing the total for this year to 11. Pakistan reported three more cases, two in Balochistan and one in Punjab, bringing the total for 2024 to 12. Both countries have already doubled the number of cases they reported in 2023.

Elsewhere, four African countries reported cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2). The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported two cases, both in Maindombe. Ethiopia reported one case in Gambella, bringing the total for the year to 12. Nigeria also reported another case in Jigawa, bringing the total to 38. South Sudan reported one case in Upper Nile, bringing the total for 2024 to 7.

WHO prepares polio vaccination campaign for Gaza

At a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing this week, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, said that following the discovery of polio in wastewater samples from Gaza, WHO is preparing polio vaccination campaigns and shipping more than a million doses to be administered in the coming weeks.

He said the group was mourning the sudden death of Aidan O’Leary, head of the WHO’s polio eradication program. Tedros said before O’Leary died while on vacation with his family, he had been working on a plan for two rounds of polio vaccination in Gaza that would target 600,000 children under the age of 8.

“We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively,” said Tedros. “To protect children in Gaza from polio, a ceasefire or at least rest days are needed while preparing and carrying out the vaccination campaigns.”