Africa is now officially free of polio, says World Health Organization

Issued on: 25/08/2020 - 18:41Modified: 25/08/2020 - 18:42

"Today is a historic day for Africa," said Professor Rose Gana Fomban Leke, whose commission certified that no cases had occurred on the continent for the past four years, the threshold for eradication in the wild.

Poliovirus now joins smallpox in the list of viruses that have been wiped out in Africa, the WHO said.

The independent Africa Regional Certification Commission (ARCC) for Polio Eradication verified that all 47 countries in the WHO's Africa region have eradicated the viral disease that can cause irreversible paralysis.

The viral disease attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. Children under five are the most vulnerable, but people can be fully protected with preventative vaccines. To keep the virus at bay, population immunisation coverage rates must be high and constant surveillance is crucial.

The last case in Africa was recorded in 2016 in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, which has been ravaged by the Islamist militant Boko Haram insurgency since 2009.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)