Poliomyelitis in Angola and the Congo

Jul 30 2007

On 25 July 2007, four new cases of polio were confirmed in Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, bringing the total number of cases in the country this year to 27.

In neighbouring Angola, advance notification of two new polio cases was received, which will bring the total number of cases in Angola in 2007 to 8. The two cases are from Luanda and Benguele provinces.

Both countries are continuing synchronized, cross-border outbreak response activities. Large-scale, supplementary immunization activities (SIAs) were launched nationwide in Angola, and in the affected areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Equateur and Bandundu provinces) on 25 July, to reach more than 8 million children under the age of five years. Further immunization campaigns will be conducted later in the year.

In 2005, poliovirus of Indian origin re-infected Angola, before subsequently spreading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2006.