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Nigeria must remain vigilant against polio: expert
CGTN
A Nigerian schoolgirl is vaccinated against polio during a mass nationwide polio inoculation April 12, 2005, in Kano, Nigeria. /Getty Images

A Nigerian schoolgirl is vaccinated against polio during a mass nationwide polio inoculation April 12, 2005, in Kano, Nigeria. /Getty Images

Nigeria must remain vigilant against the deadly polio disease despite being declared free of the virus a little over a year ago, a leading Virologist who helped spearhead the West African country's efforts to kick out polio said on Saturday.

Nigeria was the last polio-endemic country in Africa and was officially certified free from polio after marking three consecutive years since the last case of wild polio had been identified.

Speaking to the World Health Organization (WHO), Professor Oyewale Tomori said the country must remain prepared for any possible importation of the virus, seeing as there are still two countries in the world that are still endemic for wild poliovirus.

"Preparedness is the key to the detection, response and control of preventable diseases. Indeed, preparedness is the first law of prevention. Get your surveillance active and alive, involving all stakeholders at every level and stratum of the society, clearly identifying and defining roles," he said.

Tomori's call comes following last month's warning by the WHO that Nigeria and other nations, mostly in Africa, which had been given a clean bill of health risk being re-infected due to recent global spread of Wild Polio Virus Type 1 (WPV1) and Circulating Vaccine-derived Polio Virus (cVDPV).

"With a reliable and robust disease surveillance system, which efficiently manages data for planning and action, it will be easy to detect early and on time, a sporadic case before it becomes a public health event of national or international concern," the virologist said.

Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis.

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