Polio Outbreak Investigation and Response in The Horn of Africa: 2013-2016.

Background: There has been civil strife, spanning more than two decades in some countries and recurrent natural disasters in the Horn of Africa (HoA). This has consistently maintained these countries in chronic humanitarian conditions. More important however is the fact that these crises have also denied populations of these countries access to access to lifesaving health services.

Contribution of Contact Sampling in Increasing Sensitivity of Poliovirus Detection During A Polio Outbreak-Somalia, 2013.

Background.  In May 2013, a wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) outbreak reported in Somalia provided an opportunity to examine the contribution of testing contacts to WPV detection. Methods.

Immunizing nomadic children and livestock--Experience in North East Zone of Somalia.

Nomads and pastoralists represent around 30% of the population of North East zone of Somalia (Puntland) and have very limited access to basic health including immunization. During the 2013-2014 polio outbreak in Somalia, an increase number of polio cases notified health services among these underserved communities highlighted the urgent need to devise innovative strategies to reach them. Harnessing the high demand for veterinary services among pastoralist communities, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Livestock, with support from UNICEF, WHO and FAO launched an integrated human and animal vaccination campaign on 19 October 2014.

Effectiveness of oral polio vaccination against paralytic poliomyelitis: a matched case-control study in Somalia.

Background: After the last case of type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) was reported in 2007, Somalia experienced another outbreak of WPV1 (189 cases) in 2013.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective, matched case-control study to evaluate the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of oral polio vaccine (OPV). We retrieved information from the Somalia Surveillance Database.

Polio outbreak investigation and response in Somalia, 2013.

Background: For >2 decades, conflicts and recurrent natural disasters have maintained Somalia in a chronic humanitarian crisis. For nearly 5 years, 1 million children <10 years have not had access to lifesaving health services, including vaccination, resulting in the accumulation by 2012 of the largest geographically concentrated cohort of unvaccinated children in the world. This article reviews the epidemiology, risk, and program response to what is now known as the 2013 wild poliovirus (WPV) outbreak in Somalia and highlights the challenges that the program will face in making Somalia free of polio once again.

Progress toward polio eradication--Somalia, 1998-2013.

Since the 1988 resolution of the World Health Assembly to eradicate polio, significant progress has been made toward achieving this goal, with the result that only Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan have never successfully interrupted endemic transmission of wild poliovirus. However, one of the greatest challenges of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has been that of maintaining the polio-free status of countries in unstable regions with weak healthcare infrastructure, a challenge exemplified by Somalia, a country in the Horn of Africa region. Somalia interrupted indigenous transmission of wild poliovirus in 2002, 4 years after the country established its national polio eradication program.

Somalia: supporting the child survival agenda when routine health service is broken.

Somalia, one of the most unstable countries in the world, has been without a permanent government for nearly 2 decades. With a health system in total disarray, coverage of basic health interventions remains low and, maternal and child mortality is among the highest in the world. Health partners jointly outlined an integrated package of critical child survival interventions to be delivered through a population-based delivery strategy known as Child Health Days (CHDs), to reduce child mortality.

Measles control and elimination in Somalia: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Despite enormous challenges, Somalia has been successfully implementing accelerated measles control activities since 2005. Through innovative strategies and with the support of local and international partners, the country has shown potentials of implementing measles mortality reduction activities in complex emergencies. Measles incidence has been reduced by >80% after the measles catch-up campaigns of 2005-2007, and national reported measles routine immunization coverage with first dose measles containing vaccine has reached 59% for the first time in 2009.