Uganda confirms a Polio outbreak and declares a public health emergency

Just 12 months after being declared polio-free, the Ministry of Health has announced a fresh outbreak of the crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease.

The Uganda’s Ministry of Health has confirmed a polio outbreak in the country. The polio viruses are from two samples collected from the sewage plants of Bugolobi and Lubigi in Kampala. “The results confirmed a circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus Type 2 in Uganda.

“The virus sequencing test done in South Africa on the two samples showed that the confirmed circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus is linked to a circulating cVDPV2 lineage in Sudan,” Dr Henry Mwebesa, the director general of Health Services.

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