From July through September 2018, six cases of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were reported from Niger, genetically linked to a cVDPV2 case in Jigawa and Katsina States, Nigeria. The virus was isolated from children with acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) from Zinder region, located in the south of Niger and on the border with Nigeria, with dates of onset of paralysis ranging from 18 July through 16 September 2018. This outbreak has also affected Jigawa, Katsina, Yobe, Gombe, and Borno states in Nigeria, with 17 cases reported since April 2018.
Chikungunya – Sudan
On 31 May 2018, the State Ministry of Health (SMOH) of the Red Sea State in Sudan reported four suspected cases of chikungunya fever from Swakin locality, in Red Sea State. Among the signs and symptoms were sudden onset of fever, headache, joint pain and swelling, muscle pain and/or inability to walk.
The first suspected case of chikungunya in the neighboring Kassala State was reported on 8 August 2018, in a male travelling from the Red Sea State. Since then cases have been reported in three localities of the State (Kassala, West Kassala and Rural Kassala). On 10 August, among 24 collected blood samples, 22 samples tested positive for chikungunya by PCR and ELISA at the National Public Health Laboratory (NPHL) in Khartoum. On 9 September, an additional 100 samples were collected and pooled in batches of ten: 50% of pools tested positive for mixed chikungunya and dengue viruses, and all pools were positive for chikungunya virus.