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This article focuses on the claim by the Nigerian government that militant Islamist group Boko Haram's violence poses a risk for polio transmission. It discusses the polio vaccination of children in the areas controlled by Boko Haram, the success of polio eradication efforts globally and the benefits of the polio eradication efforts in Nigeria to its economy and public health.

The article discusses the interruption of the transmission of poliovirus through the public health innovations in Nigeria. Topics discussed include the reliance of all the public health programs on the effective surveillance, the managerial and support functions needed in the eradication of polio, and the support given by the World Health Organization.

The article discusses studies within the issue by Nicholas Grassly and Hamid Jafari and the July 11, 2014 online edition of "The Lancet" journal by Jacob John and colleagues that shows a combined vaccine strategy of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) and oral polio vaccine (OPV) in children in India can be effective at preventing polio transmission. The expanded role of IPV in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and Kenya's combined polio vaccine 2013 strategy are discussed.

The reports on the attacks on workers from the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Karachi and Peshawar, Pakistan, in which sixteen aid workers were killed between December 17, 2012 and January 1, 2013. The GPEI program has been temporarily halted in the country, although the Pakistan government released a statement in favor of the polio vaccination program. Some public health leaders attribute the violence to groups hostile to women's education and other services. Also discussed is the potential impact of the suspension of the program on the spread of polio in Pakistan.

This article discusses poliovirus eradication efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the town of Gadap in Karachi, Pakistan. Topics include the town's position as a central hub for spreading outbreaks due to its location along a transmission zone that migrants use to flee violence in tribal areas of the country, the attacks on WHO polio vaccine campaign workers, and the efforts of Ethiopian-born WHO epidemiologist Elias Durry in Pakistan throughout 2011.

The article focuses on the threat faced by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. It says that the goal of the programme has not been obtained due to various difficulties including the underdeveloped health systems, poor governance and chronic security problems. It mentions that the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) has declared that the polio campaign might succeed or fail in eradicating poliovirus across the world and its one billion dollars fund per year might dry up if such effort does not succeed. Meanwhile, the World Health Assembly will gather in May 2012 to talk about a resolution to address the eradication of polio internationally.

The authors reflect on the existence of an ethical obligation to complete polio eradication in relation to a new strategy of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to stop polio transmission. They examine the argument raised by those who favour effective control in questioning the rationale for pursuing eradication for diseases. They also cite several compelling reasons to continue the pursuit of polio eradication, such as the existence of means to pursue eradication.

Background: Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is a clinical syndrome with infectious and non-infectious causes. AFP surveillance is the gold standard for detection of poliomyelitis cases and surveillance during polio outbreaks. Ondo state AFP surveillance system was evaluated to describe the key attributes and the process of operation, to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the surveillance system and to make appropriate recommendations for improving the surveillance system. Methods & Materials: The evaluation was conducted using the Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) Updated Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance System, 2001". The evaluation included interview of stakeholders, review of relevant document and resource materials and the analysis of 2009 - 2013 data from the Ondo state AFP surveillance system. Results: The AFP surveillance system in Ondo State is simple, flexible and sensitive (annualized NPAFP rate of 3.8/100,000 children less than 15 years in 2009, 4.0/100,000 in 2010, 4.3/100,000 in 2011, 4.1/100,000 in 2012 and 6.4/100,000 in 2013). The system is representative, stable and generates high quality data (97%, 98%, 97%, 98% and 99% from 2009-2013. Partner agencies provided 90 - 95% of the system's operating resources. The system is acceptable to stakeholders but has a low positive predictive value (1.2% cumulatively from 2009 to 2013). The state has however not recorded any case of WPV since 2010. Conclusion: Findings from the evaluation revealed that the AFP surveillance system in the state is meeting its set objectives of detecting Wild Polio Virus (WPV) and identifying areas with continued risk for WPV transmission. The data quality was good but the resources to maintain the system are inadequate at the state and the LGA levels. The state and local government authorities' ownership of the initiative need to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nigeria remains the only African country yet to interrupt transmission of wild polio virus and has a high incidence of childhood vaccine preventable diseases. Routine immunization (RI) services have not achieved sufficient coverages in remote rural settings especially among nomadic Fulani pastoralist. The high mobility and dispersion of these pastoralists makes easily missed by healthcare services yet these pastoralist often seek medical care for their animals regardless of the cost. We adopted an integrated human and animal vaccination strategy with the aim of increasing access and demand for RI services among nomadic pastoralist. Methods & Materials: Nomadic communities and stock routes in Bauchi were identified and geocoded using GPS enabled phones. Weassessed RI and animal vaccination coverage in these communities. Three rounds of targeted joint human and animal vaccination campaigns were carried out. Vaccinations and other healthcare services were administered to children, women of child bearing age, cattle and dogs. Vaccination teams were composed of local veterinary officers, healthcare workers and health promotion officials. Results: A total of 4285 children less than one year of age and 1624 women were vaccinated in 49 settlements. Vaccination coverage increased from 22.7% to 80.1%. Of the 1271 children given oral polio vaccine (OPV) and 836 given pentavalent vaccine, 311(24.5%) and 348(41. 6%) respectively were zero dose. Dropout rate was 42%. A total of 496(30.5%) women that received Tetanus Toxoid (TT) received it for the first time. The animal component of the study gave intervention to a total of 28581 cattle increasing the coverage from 41% to 61%, 26 dogs were vaccinated against rabies. Conclusion: Routine immunization coverage increased in these communities largely due to the administration of human vaccinations alongside animal vaccination and other healthcare services. High dropout rate recorded can be attributed to the high mobility of these pastoralists. We recommend that the government adopt this strategy in nomadic pastoralist communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States that poliovirus vaccine strains will continue to circulate long after wild strains have been eradicated. Differences between the poliovirus and smallpox strains; Eradication programs for each virus; Varieties of smallpox; Continued use of oral polio vaccines in developing countries; Need to make inactivated polio vaccine available at an affordable price in all countries; Issue of polio and poliovirus eradication.

States that the containment of wild poliovirus in the laboratory is a realistic goal. Focus of containment programs on wild poliovirus and potential infectious material; Neurovirulence and transmission of oral polio vaccine-derived polioviruses; Chances of accidental release of wild poliovirus; Biosafety level of polio practices; Evidence of the evolution of vaccine-derived viruses into transmissible pathogens in immunized populations.

Examines the viability of containing wild polioviruses in laboratories and inactivated poliovirus vaccine production sites. Mutations of vaccine virus during the initial passages through the human intestine; Chances of accidental release of wild poliovirus; Transmission of wild poliovirus from the laboratory to the community; Challenge of testing a collection of enteroviruses for the presence of wild poliovirus.

Editorial. Focuses on the disappearence of Paralytic poliomyelitis from the world. Certification of European region of World Health Organization (WHO) to become polio free; Countries having restriction on the transmission of polio virus; Vaccine beneficial for disease; Plan of WHO to eradicate polio through the use of live vaccine; Organization of immunization programmes to prevent outbreaks by vaccine.

States that the Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication certified that the Western Pacific Region of the World Health Organization is free of indigenous wild poliovirus transmission. Inclusion of the biocontainment of wild polioviruses in laboratories as part of the certification process; Recommendation of measures to prevent reintroduction of polio.

Reacts to the paper by D.J. Wood et al. in the March, 2000 issue of the `Bulletin of the World Health Organization' magazine concerning the persistence of vaccine-derived poliovirus in populations. Transmissibility of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV); Research questions relevant to knowledge about transmissibility of the virus; Issues in discontinuation of OPV vaccinations.

The article discusses a poliovirus surveillance data for Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, the 2 World Health Organization (WHO) regions with endemic wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission, revealing that countries affected by the Ebola virus declined in 2014 compared with 2013. Topics mentioned include how polio is tracked, the documentation of previously undetected circulation of individual WPV strains in the regions, and how gaps in surveillance quality can be identified and resolved.

The article reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on May 5, 2014 that the spread of wild polio virus is a public health emergency of international concern, issuing travel recommendations for Pakistan, Cameroon, and Syria, which pose the greatest risk of further spread.

Abstract: Since the mid-1970s, the widespread establishment and implementation of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) has led to remarkable achievements in controlling vaccine preventable diseases worldwide. Today, more children than ever are being reached with immunization; interruption of poliomyelitis transmission has occurred in most countries; mortality due to measles, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis has been reduced to record low levels. In addition, increasing numbers of vaccines are being used for infants and older age persons, such as vaccines against hepatitis A and hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, rotavirus, pneumococcus, meningococcus, human papilloma virus (HPV) and varicella. The design of EPI reflects in large part the experience accumulated during the implementation of the intensified campaign for smallpox eradication during the period 1966–1977. At that time, the existing health infrastructure and network was found inadequate to reach most individuals with community wide immunization programmes in most countries. Thus, efforts were made to train dedicated health personnel and allocate specific resources for programme coordination and implementation. With the establishment of EPI, there was a gradual shift in emphasis from vaccination campaign strategies using mobile teams to the delivery of immunization services as part of routine health services of health facilities. Both the campaign and the outreach strategies are nevertheless required to reach those segments of the population not reached by the routine health services and to accelerate the achievement of disease control initiatives such as polio eradication and measles elimination. Whilst the campaign for smallpox eradication was set up as special and time-limited effort, the EPI requires long-term sustainable approaches to protect new cohorts of susceptible persons with vaccination and monitor trends and progress towards disease control with high quality surveillance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Following the rapid progress towards interrupting indigenous wild poliovirus transmission in the Americas in the early 1980s, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched with a resolution of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 1988. The GPEI built on many lessons learned from smallpox eradication, including the large-scale deployment of technical assistance, implementing agendas of innovation and research and the use of professionally planned and guided advocacy. By the year 2000, the incidence of polio globally had decreased by 99% compared with the estimated >350,000 cases reported from 125 endemic countries in 1988. By 2002, three WHO Regions (the Americas, Western Pacific and European Regions) had been certified polio-free. By 2005, transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus (WPV) had been interrupted in all but 4 ‘endemic’ countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, where eradication efforts effectively stalled. WPV exported from northern Nigeria and northern India subsequently caused >50 outbreaks and paralysed >1500 children in previously polio-free countries across Asia and Africa. In each of the four remaining polio-endemic countries different challenges, or a combination of factors, prevented to build up sufficient levels of population immunity to stop transmission. Consequently, specific strategies were increasingly tailored to each setting. A new 2010–2012 GPEI Strategic Plan was developed which brought together several approaches to overcome the remaining hurdles to eradication, including the large-scale use of bivalent oral poliovaccine (bOPV) in supplementary immunization activities (SIAs). By the end of 2010, the impact of the new GPEI Strategic Plan 2010–2012 was apparent. Compared to 2009, the number of new polio cases in 2010 fell by 95% in both northern Nigeria and northern India, the world''s largest remaining reservoirs of indigenous WPVs. By mid-2011, India had not reported a polio case for more than 5 months, and in Nigeria, endemic transmission appeared to be restricted to the north-east and north-west corners of the country. While polio cases due to WPV type 3 were still being detected in west and central Africa, the overall level of WPV3 transmission globally was at an all-time low. Uncontrolled WPV transmission appeared to be restricted to Chad and Pakistan, which increasingly represented the greatest risks to the GPEI. Although insufficient financing continued to be a major concern, political support for completing polio eradication in polio-infected countries was stronger than ever by mid-2011. While continued transmission in some areas, particularly in Pakistan and Chad, still had to be controlled as a matter of urgency, there were real opportunities to achieve new landmarks in polio eradication, especially in the key WPV reservoirs of India and Nigeria, setting the stage for polio to soon follow smallpox into the history books. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers news briefs on medical topics including the polio outbreak in Tajikistan, the increase of malaria control cases in Africa and U.S. President Barack Obama's approval of new rules providing same sex partners with hospital visiting rights.

This article reports on the findings of a report that said an outbreak of poliomyelitis in northern Nigeria was caused by a mutated strain of the live polio vaccine. The outbreak happened in 2006 and caused 69 confirmed cases of paralysis. The report notes that vaccine-related polio is rare but says low vaccination rates in an area make it possible for the mutation to spread throughout the population. Nigeria stopped immunizing for polio in 2003 when rumors were spread that the vaccine would cause sterility or AIDS. By 2005 15 to 50 percent of children under the age of 5 years had not been treated.

Reports on the recent reemergence of polio in Nigeria and in 12 other previously polio-free countries of sub-Saharan Africa. How rumors that the vaccine might be contaminated led to Nigeria stopping its vaccination program; How there were no vaccinations in months as the vaccine was retested for safety and efficacy; Wild poliovirus, a form responsible for paralysis, which gained a foothold during the cessation of vaccination; How Nigeria now accounts for 80 percent of the world's burden of the disease; Spread of this new outbreak; Plans by various countries to eradicate the disease; Efforts of 23 African counties to offer synchronized national immunizations days.

Comments on the article by Walter.R. Dowdle and his colleagues on the containment of wild poliovirus in laboratories and inactivated poliovirus vaccine production sites, which appeared in the January 2004 issue of the "Bulletin of the World Health Organization". Minimization of operations that pose a risk of spread; Minimization of the susceptibility of workers who are exposed to the virus; Number of laboratories that wish to retain vaccine stocks and even work with live virus.

Reports that the Organization of the Islamic Conference adopted a resolution on October 20, 2003 urging member states which are still polio-endemic to accelerate their efforts to drive out the disease. Call on the international community to come up with the necessary funds to stop transmission completely by the end of 2004; Countries that are still polio-endemic; World Health Organization's launch of an immunization campaign across several countries in west and central Africa.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to an article about the possible role of polioviruses in the development of schizophrenia.

For more than two decades mankind has been dreaming of a "polio-free world." However the dream is yet to be realized owing to various problems related to transmission of wild polio virus transmission as well as vaccine-derived polio virus. These problems are as much scientific as human. The article briefly discusses the current status of polio control across the globe, and various challenges associated with it in a nation-wise manner.