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LONDON – The United Kingdom has declared a rare “national incident” after traces of highly contagious polio were found in a London sewer, the government said.
Britain, like many developed nations, has been largely free of polio since the 1980s due to high vaccine use. No cases have been registered so far.
However, her health security agency and health regulator said in a statement Wednesday that authorities found traces of poliovirus in wastewater samples collected by the London Wastewater Treatment Plant as part of “routine surveillance”. The treatment plant covers nearly 4 million people in the northern and eastern parts of the capital.
“Investigations are ongoing after several closely related viruses were found in wastewater samples taken between February and May,” the statement said.
The finding suggests that “there may have been some prevalence between closely related individuals in north and east London and that they are now releasing a strain of poliovirus type 2 in their faeces,” the statement said.
The poliovirus derived from a type 2 vaccine – unlike the wild or naturally occurring strain – is a weakened form of the live virus used in oral polio vaccines. Many countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have abandoned the use of the oral vaccine because it can be spread to unvaccinated people. But it remains common in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
A poliovirus derived from a vaccine found in the United Kingdom “in rare cases can cause a serious illness, such as paralysis, in people who have not been fully vaccinated,” the British health authorities said.
So far, the polio virus has only been detected in wastewater samples, but investigations are underway to determine if there is any transmission in the community.
Like other nations, Britain is also battling the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and monkeypox cases.
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The United Kingdom was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization in 2003, and the last case of wild or natural polio was in 1984, according to the government.
“Poliovirus produced by vaccines is rare and the risk to society as a whole is extremely low,” said Vanessa Saliba, an epidemiologist consultant at the UK Health Security Agency.
“We are urgently investigating to better understand the extent of this transmission, and the NHS has been asked to report all suspicious cases quickly,” she said, adding that “no cases have been reported or confirmed so far.”
Poliomyelitis or poliomyelitis is a mutilating and potentially fatal infectious disease that invades the nervous system and is spread mainly by contamination with fecal matter.
There is no cure, but vaccinations in the 1960s, mostly in childhood, have changed the game, allowing many countries to eradicate wild polio. The United Kingdom maintains vaccine coverage of more than 95 percent, the government said, largely through a routine child immunization program.
Surveillance, vaccination and investment for #EndPolio 🌍 are crucial, as #UK’s announcement reminds us of environmental # polio samples identified in London’s sewers. So far there is no infected child. @WHO supports 🇬🇧 and partners.https: //t.co/97zNVNUiBg
– Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 22, 2022
The UK Health Security Agency says it usually finds between one and three “poliovirus isolates a year” in sewers, but they are usually disposable and unconnected. “In this case, the isolates identified between February and June 2022 are genetically related. This has led to the need to investigate the extent of the transmission, “he added.
The most likely scenario is that a recently vaccinated individual has entered the United Kingdom from a country where an oral polio vaccine has been used. The United Kingdom stopped such oral vaccines in 2004, authorities said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adanom Gebrejesus tweeted that “surveillance, vaccination and investment in #EndPolio are crucial”, according to news from the United Kingdom.
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The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which works to end all wild and vaccine-related cases of the virus, said that although largely eradicated, the disease remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“It is important that all countries, especially those with high levels of travel and contacts with polio-affected countries and areas, step up surveillance to quickly detect any new virus imports and facilitate a rapid response,” the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, health officials in London are urging parents to ensure that young children are fully vaccinated to prevent any outbreaks. The National Health Service will start contacting parents of children under 5 in the capital who are not up to date with their vaccinations, the government said.
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