As of August 2020, Africa was declared free of wild poliovirus, a disease that formerly paralyzed thousands of kids every year across the continent. The last cases of wild polio in Africa were registered in 2016, in Nigeria. In the last 24 years, a campaign against the illness has been done in the region, reaching African children, even in remote and insecure areas. Estimates indicate that nine billion vaccine doses were provided, while 1.8 million of wild polio cases were averted in the period. Despite the good results, Africa still has to fight against a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus, that infects hundreds of people in areas with only partial vaccinations.
Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016
The polio-free certification excludes North Africa. Even though, as the area did not record any case of wild poliovirus since 2004, the entire continent is considered free of the disease.
According to the source, the estimates were based on a model by Tebbens et al. (2011) that multiplies the reported number of cases with a correction factor based on
the quality of each country's surveillance system. After a country is certified polio-free, however, the reported polio cases are used.
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OWID. (November 9, 2017). Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/
OWID. "Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016." Chart. November 9, 2017. Statista. Accessed November 23, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/
OWID. (2017). Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: November 23, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/
OWID. "Number of Wild Polio Cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016." Statista, Statista Inc., 9 Nov 2017, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/
OWID, Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/ (last visited November 23, 2024)
Number of wild polio cases in Africa from 1980 to 2016 [Graph], OWID, November 9, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166639/number-of-wild-polio-cases-in-africa/
