Progress Toward Eradication of Polio — Worldwide, January 2011–March 2013

MMWR / May 3, 2013 / Vol. 62 / No. 17 335 In May 2012, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the completion of polio eradication a programmatic emergency (1). Since the launch of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, the number of annual polio cases has decreased by >99%. As of March 2013, circulation of indigenous wild poliovirus (WPV) continued in only three countries: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan (the last case in India had onset in January 2011). This report provides an update on progress toward global polio eradication during January 2011–March 2013, using data reported as of April 23, 2013 (2). The number of WPV cases reported globally decreased 66%, from 650 in 2011 to 223 in 2012; WPV cases decreased 53% (from 80 to 37) in Afghanistan and 71% (from 198 to 58) in Pakistan, but increased 97% (from 62 to 122) in Nigeria. The number of imported WPV cases in previously polio-free countries decreased from 309 in 12 countries in 2011 to six in two countries in 2012 (3,4). During January–March 2013, a total of 22 WPV cases were reported worldwide, compared with 48 cases during the same period in 2012. An estimated 2.05 billion doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) were administered in 2012 to approximately 448 million persons, primarily children aged <5 years, in supplemental immunization activities (SIAs) conducted in 46 countries. SIAs were temporarily suspended in areas of Pakistan and Nigeria after attacks against health workers occurred in December 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. The number of confirmed WPV cases has decreased to the lowest level ever, but security concerns continue to threaten the overall goal of global eradication.