WHO Confirms Five African Countries Have Ended Poliovirus Type 2 Outbreaks

25 August 2026National

The WHO Regional Office for Africa confirmed in August 2026 the closure of poliovirus type 2 outbreaks in five countries - Burundi, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of the Congo and Uganda - after an Independent Outbreak Response Assessment (OBRA) conducted between January and June 2026. The OBRA reviewed surveillance systems, laboratory evidence, epidemiological data, population immunity and vaccination campaign performance. Burundi's outbreak dated to March 2023, the Republic of the Congo's last detection to December 2023 and Uganda's to May 2024, while Guinea-Bissau has reported none since July 2021. Africa was certified free of wild poliovirus in 2020, so these were vaccine-derived type 2 outbreaks.

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WHO was established on 7 April 1948 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland; World Health Day is 7 April | The WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) is headquartered at Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo | India was certified polio-free by WHO in March 2014

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