Malawi health officials have announced the outbreak of polio after a case of a young child was reported in the capital, Lilongwe, the first manifestation of polio in Africa in more than five years, Reuters reported.

A statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, according to laboratory tests, the strain registered in Malawi was related to the one circulating in Pakistan, where it is still endemic.

The last reported case of polio in Africa was in 2016 in Nigeria.

80 million children worldwide are at risk of chickenpox and polio due to discontinuation of vaccinations

"As an imported case from Pakistan, the case does not affect Africa's status as a polio-free area," the WHO said in a statement.

The Global Initiative for the Eradication of Polio announced that the case in the South African country was with a three-year-old girl who began to become paralyzed in November last year.

Sequencing of the virus in February at the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that the child was infected with type 1 naturally occurring polio (WPV1).

"The registration of WPV1 outside the world's only two endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan, is a matter of grave concern and underscores the importance of prioritizing polio immunization activities," the Global Initiative said.

Malawi finds Africa's first wild polio case in five years https://t.co/sdDand83Q9

- TheStarKenya (@TheStarKenya) February 18, 2022

Polio is a highly contagious disease that attacks the nervous system and can cause complete paralysis for hours.

There is no cure for polio, but the infection can be prevented with a vaccine, according to the WHO.

Africa

Malawi