Adamawa State government has confirmed the discovery of Vaccine Derived Poliovirus (VDPV) type 2 case in the state.
Adamawa state Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Prof. Abdullahi Isa, made this known during the official flag-off of First Round Outbreak Response Immunisation in Yola.
While disclosing this, Isa described the VDPV as a strain of the weakened Poliovirus that was at first included in Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) that has changed over time and acts more like the wild or naturally occurring virus.
He however expressed concern that the re-emergence of the virus in the state was a great challenge and a signal for the possible outbreak of the transmitted virus.
It should be recalled that the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Nigeria polio-free in August 2020.
Isa said: “One case of Circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus type 2 has been detected in the state.
“The situation is posing a great signal to poliovirus outbreak in the state.
“The resurface of the Poliovirus type 2 necessitated the immediate flag-off of the First Round Outbreak Response for Oral Polio Vaccine.”
He said with the support from the WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other international organisations, the state government had trained about 800 health personnel to carry out the routine polio immunization.
