A “global emergency” has been declared by the Telangana government on Tuesday after an active strain of wild poliovirus (P2 strain) was found in a water sample collected from a drain in Hyderabad. As a preventive measure, over three lakh children in the city and Ranga Reddy district will be vaccinated from today onwards. Vaccines have been air-lifted from Geneva, Switzerland after the virus was detected.
Earlier, this strain of poliovirus was detected in Gujarat, Bihar, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, said Rajeshwar Tiwari said the principal secretary of health. The virus was found from Amberpet sewage treatment plant on May 17, during a routine surveillance of 30 samples collected from various parts of Hyderabad.
The government will follow the normal WHO set standards during the immunisation procedure, where children between the ages of six weeks and three years will be provided additional doses of injectable polio vaccine. Booths will be set up in areas covering this campaign. India has not witnessed cases of Polio in the last five years. It can be possible that the virus has been brought from the neighbouring West Asian countries.
The Logical Indian appeals to the central and state government to increase the sampling frequency of water bodies and other potential carriers of the virus to ensure the problem is rooted out. We request the central and state government to give this issue the highest priority and direct all possible resources at disposal to ensure there is no spread of it.
