A child receives anti-polio vaccination. File Photo
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Last September, the Global Certification Commission verified the global eradication of the WPV2 after the last incidence reported in Africa was recorded in August 2014 in Somalia. The last incidence of WPV2 in Kenya was reported in 2013.
Kenya has lowered the risks of polio virus infections by eliminating one of the three strains of the disease due to aggressive immunization in the past two years.
The wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) was officially declared eradicated in the country following Thursday’s destruction of over 1,000 isolates of the remaining live WPV2 in the Polio laboratory at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Nairobi.
This leaves Scientists with only the poliovirus type 1 and 3 cases, which can strike at any age and can cause severe paralysis. These two types of poliovirus are being monitored and are restricted to two endemic countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
“The destruction of such materials is necessary to avoid possible risks of re-introducing it into communities in the post-eradication era,” said KEMRI acting director, Gerald Mkoji.
Last incidence of WPV2
Last September, the Global Certification Commission verified the global eradication of the WPV2 after the last incidence reported in Africa was recorded in August 2014 in Somalia. The last incidence of WPV2 in Kenya was reported in 2013.
KEMRI’s Polio laboratory serves Kenya as well Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Comoros.
In May, the police thwarted a biological terror threat that was to use the anthrax virus by Kenyan and Ugandan medical students linked to a militia group.
The culprits were later arrested and the Interior Cabinet secretary Joseph Nkaissery directed that all KEMRI branches be highly guarded to avoid cases of viruses meant for research being stolen.
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