Abuja, 14 June 2015 - States in the North West of Nigeria comprising  Jigawa,  Katsina, Kebbi and Sokoto, sharing international borders with the Republic of Niger, have administered oral polio vaccine to 24, 952 children aged  0-59 months during the sub-National Immunization Plus Days (sNIPDs) conducted from 6-9 June 2015 to boost the immunity of populations living in border settlements.

Persistent risk of cross border importation of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) from neighbouring countries with outbreaks in the previous months is palpable due to high rate of migration across the borders. For example, in Katsina state alone, eight WPVs were isolated from five LGAs bordering the Republic of Niger in 2012. Although there was no isolation of WPVs along international borders in Nigeria in 2014, two circulating vaccine derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) were reported from borders in Borno state. Additionally, environmental surveillance detected cVDPs in three states (Borno, Sokoto and Katsina) with international borders.  

The principle behind collaborative vaccination was succinctly captured by Dr Sameeh Omoleke, the WHO Kebbi state coordinator, noted that “synchronization of immunization activities along all settlements leading to, or from a polio endemic country is a key strategy towards the control of polio transmission and importation”. He added that “historically, settlements lying along borders are potential hideouts for WPVs and could facilitate easy transmission”.

Consequently, joint planning meetings were conducted before the June 2015 sNIPDs and attended by stakeholders from settlements on either side of both  countries to identify routes, deploy trained  human resources and allocate required funds.

Mapping vaccination routes:

“All the routes which included the highways, feeder roads, walkways, footpaths and other tracks linking Nigeria and the Republic of Niger were manned by sNIPDs teams” said Dr Suleiman Abdulahi, the WHO North West Zonal Coordinator. In this regard, he emphasized that all eligible children transiting across the borders from both directions (in and out of Nigeria) were vaccinated.

In all the four states, vaccination teams were posted to all the major exit and entry point while immigration, customs, and port health officials supported the teams to identify caregivers with eligible children who were in turn, required to get their children vaccinated with OPV at the borders.

Engaging local leaders:

Traditional, religious and community influential leaders were also engaged to mobilize and sensitize their communities on the importance of immunization. The district head of Magaria, Alhaji Lawali Adamu of Magaria District, Damagaram Province of Republic of Niger during a meeting for community mobilization on the border with Katsina observed that ‘unless we join hands, we cannot eradicate polio’. He further advised that monthly meetings should be instituted regardless of planned supplemental immunization activities, to share routine immunization and surveillance data from both countries to guide future cross-border activities between both countries.

Continued vigilance to avoid missing polio transmission:

On-going surveillance activities preceded the June 2015 sNIPDs involving  teams from Nigeria and Republic of Niger in the north west, as well as Adamawa and  Taraba state teams in the north east with Cameroonian teams.

In the Sokoto axis for instance, retroactive search of cases was conducted to avoid missing transmission during which 23 teams including personnel from Nigeria and Niger Republic were trained to “comb” houses along the border settlements for any un-reported acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases. The teams reported seven cases which were verified as genuine AFPs and stool samples sent to the laboratory in Ibadan for investigations.

In Taraba, WHO donated megaphones to the state government to facilitate sensitization by trained town announcers to remind communities to report any of the priority diseases for elimination and eradication.

All WHO state offices are expected to organize feedback meetings with stakeholders from Niger and Cameroun to discuss successes recorded, lessons learnt and ways to surmount the residual challenges faced during immunization campaigns.

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For more information, please contact:

Technical contacts:

Dr Pascal Mkanda; Tel: +234 803 402 2140; Email: mkandap [at] who.int
Dr Suleiman Abdullahi; Tel: +234 803 701 6551; Email: abdullahis [at] who.int
Media contact:

Ms Charity Warigon; Tel: +234 810 221 0093; Email: warigonc [at] who.int