Polio Outbreak in War-Torn Syria

On June 8, the World Health Organization reported an outbreak of vaccine-related polio cases in war-torn Syria. As of August 1, 30 total cases of vaccine-derived polio virus had been reported, with 29 of the cases concentrated in the Deir-al-Zour governorate. Deir-al-Zour, one of the hardest hit regions of the Syrian civil war, has been largely cut off from outside health and humanitarian organizations since mid-2014, when ISIS gained control of nearly the entire area from Syrian rebel forces. Since that time, international groups have only been able to conduct sporadic and partial vaccination campaigns within the governorate, with the most recent occurring in March and April earlier this year. Two response campaigns have been planned for the current outbreak in both the Deir-al-Zour and Raqqa governorates. The first started on July 22, targeting 328,000 children under the age of five in Deir-al-Zour and 120,000 children in Raqqa. Dr. John Vertefeuille, Polio Eradication Branch Chief and Incident Manager in the Global Immunization Division at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discusses the outbreak, the response effort, and what this means for the region moving forward. John has a long and distinguished history with the CDC, serving as country director in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Haiti before assuming his current role.

Hosted by Steve Morrison. Produced by Cathryn Streifel. Edited by Ribka Gemilangsari