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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>Outbreak Notice<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice SubHeader" -->Update on the Global Status of Polio<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
This information is current as of today, <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"><!-- var calendarDate = getCalendarDate(); var clockTime = getClockTime(); document.write(calendarDate); document.write(', '); document.write(clockTime); //--></script>May 15, 2007, 11:42:31 AM
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice Release/Update date" -->Most recently updated: May 14, 2007<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice Content" --> According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI),* only 4 countries (Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan) remain polio-endemic, an all-time low.
The following countries, however, have recently reported imported polio cases or cases related to an importation in the past 6 months: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Myanmar, Niger, Nepal, and Somalia. Of these countries, Bangladesh, DRC, Kenya, and Myanmar had previously been polio-free for over 5 years.
Outbreaks continue to be a risk until poliovirus is eliminated worldwide, and susceptible people are still at risk for infection. Therefore travelers should be sure they and their children are fully immunized against polio according to the recommendations below.
Current Vaccination Recommendations for U.S. Travelers
Vaccination is recommended for all travelers to polio-endemic or -epidemic areas. These areas include Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
Infants and Children
Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus. The disease mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It is spread person-to-person when the virus enters the mouth of a person who has come in contact with the stool of an infected person (for example, by changing diapers and not washing hands before touching the mouth) or from fecal contamination of food or drinking water. Most people infected with the poliovirus have no symptoms, but some infections cause paralysis and even death. Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands of children in industrialized countries. Soon after the introduction of effective vaccines in the late 1950s (IPV) and early 1960s (OPV), polio was brought under control and practically eliminated as a public health problem in industrialized countries.
OPV has not been used in the United States since 2000; however, it is used in many other counties and has played a major role in eliminating polio from large parts of the world. IPV, which is given by intramuscular injection, is now used in the United States and several other industrialized countries.
For more information about polio and polio vaccine, see:
Poliomyelitis (in Health Information for International Travel), Polio Disease information, and Immunization Schedules.
See the Global Polio Eradication Initiative website for more information. For additional information about these outbreaks, see the Monthly Situation Reports.
* The Global Polio Eradication Initiative comprises the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national ministries of health, and other partners.
<!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="std-txt-datestamp">Date: <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="DateStamp" -->May 14, 2007 <!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="std-txt-contentsource">Content Source: National Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
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<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice SubHeader" -->Update on the Global Status of Polio<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
This information is current as of today, <script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript"><!-- var calendarDate = getCalendarDate(); var clockTime = getClockTime(); document.write(calendarDate); document.write(', '); document.write(clockTime); //--></script>May 15, 2007, 11:42:31 AM
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice Release/Update date" -->Most recently updated: May 14, 2007<!-- InstanceEndEditable -->
<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Notice Content" --> According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI),* only 4 countries (Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan) remain polio-endemic, an all-time low.
The following countries, however, have recently reported imported polio cases or cases related to an importation in the past 6 months: Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Myanmar, Niger, Nepal, and Somalia. Of these countries, Bangladesh, DRC, Kenya, and Myanmar had previously been polio-free for over 5 years.
Outbreaks continue to be a risk until poliovirus is eliminated worldwide, and susceptible people are still at risk for infection. Therefore travelers should be sure they and their children are fully immunized against polio according to the recommendations below.
Current Vaccination Recommendations for U.S. Travelers
Vaccination is recommended for all travelers to polio-endemic or -epidemic areas. These areas include Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
Infants and Children
- The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends that all infants and children in the United States should receive 4 doses of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), administered at 2, 4, and 6–18 months and 4–6 years of age.
- If accelerated protection is needed, the minimum interval between doses is 4 weeks, although the preferred interval between the second and third doses is 2 months.
- Travelers who have received a primary series with either IPV or oral polio vaccine (OPV) should receive another dose of IPV before departure.
- Available data do not indicate the need for more than a single lifetime booster dose with IPV.
- Adults who are unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or whose vaccination status is unknown should receive a full series of IPV.
Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus. The disease mainly affects children under 5 years of age. It is spread person-to-person when the virus enters the mouth of a person who has come in contact with the stool of an infected person (for example, by changing diapers and not washing hands before touching the mouth) or from fecal contamination of food or drinking water. Most people infected with the poliovirus have no symptoms, but some infections cause paralysis and even death. Until the 1950s, polio crippled thousands of children in industrialized countries. Soon after the introduction of effective vaccines in the late 1950s (IPV) and early 1960s (OPV), polio was brought under control and practically eliminated as a public health problem in industrialized countries.
OPV has not been used in the United States since 2000; however, it is used in many other counties and has played a major role in eliminating polio from large parts of the world. IPV, which is given by intramuscular injection, is now used in the United States and several other industrialized countries.
For more information about polio and polio vaccine, see:
Poliomyelitis (in Health Information for International Travel), Polio Disease information, and Immunization Schedules.
See the Global Polio Eradication Initiative website for more information. For additional information about these outbreaks, see the Monthly Situation Reports.
* The Global Polio Eradication Initiative comprises the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national ministries of health, and other partners.
<!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="std-txt-datestamp">Date: <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="DateStamp" -->May 14, 2007 <!-- InstanceEndEditable --></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="std-txt-contentsource">Content Source: National Center for Infectious Diseases, Division of Global Migration and Quarantine
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