Outbreak of Type 1 Wild Poliovirus Infection in Adults, Namibia, 2006

A paralytic poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in Namibia in 2006, almost exclusively among adults. Nineteen cases were virologically confirmed as due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), and 26 were classified as polio compatible. Eleven deaths occurred among confirmed and compatible cases (24%). Of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of infectious diseases 2014-11, Vol.210 (suppl_1), p.S353-S360
Main Authors: Yusuf, Nasir, de Wee, Rosalina, Foster, Norbert, Watkins, Margaret A., Tiruneh, Desta, Chauvin, Claire, Bossarte, Robert, Mandlhate, Custodia, Jack, Abdoulie, Gumede, Nicksy, Mawela, Alfred, Burns, Cara C., Pallansch, Mark A., Allies, Tina, Rainey, Jeannette, Mataruse, Noah, Nshimirimana, Deo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child, Preschool
Disease Outbreaks
Disease transmission
EPIDEMIOLOGIC, VIROLOGIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SURVEILLANCE
Female
Health surveillance
Humans
Immunity
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Infections
Male
Middle Aged
Namibia - epidemiology
Oral poliovirus vaccines
Paralysis
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis - epidemiology
Poliomyelitis - virology
Poliovirus
Poliovirus - classification
Poliovirus - genetics
Poliovirus - isolation & purification
Poliovirus vaccines
Sex Distribution
Topography, Medical
Young Adult
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Summary:A paralytic poliomyelitis outbreak occurred in Namibia in 2006, almost exclusively among adults. Nineteen cases were virologically confirmed as due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), and 26 were classified as polio compatible. Eleven deaths occurred among confirmed and compatible cases (24%). Of the confirmed cases, 97% were aged 15-45 years, 89% were male, and 71% lived in settlement areas in Windhoek. The virus was genetically related to a virus detected in 2005 in Angola, which had been imported earlier from India. The outbreak is likely due to immunity gaps among adults who were inadequately vaccinated during childhood. This outbreak underscores the ongoing risks posed by poliovirus importations, the importance of maintaining strong acute flaccid paralysis surveillance even in adults, and the need to maintain high population immunity to avoid polio outbreaks in the preeradication period and outbreaks due to vaccine-derived polioviruses in the posteradication era.
ISSN:0022-1899
1537-6613
DOI:10.1093/infdis/jiu069