TY - JOUR
T1 - The Israeli public health response to wild poliovirus importation
AU - Kaliner, Ehud
AU - Kopel, Eran
AU - Anis, Emilia
AU - Mendelson, Ella
AU - Moran-Gilad, Jacob
AU - Shulman, Lester M.
AU - Singer, Shepherd R.
AU - Manor, Yossi
AU - Somekh, Eli
AU - Rishpon, Shmuel
AU - Leventhal, Alex
AU - Rubin, Lisa
AU - Tasher, Diana
AU - Honovich, Mira
AU - Moerman, Larisa
AU - Shohat, Tamy
AU - Bassal, Ravit
AU - Sofer, Danit
AU - Gdalevich, Michael
AU - Lev, Boaz
AU - Gamzu, Ronni
AU - Grotto, Itamar
N1 - Funding Information: LMS has received a WHO grant for environmental surveillance of poliovirus to his institution and support from WHO for travel to WHO meetings and from the US Food and Drug Administration for travel to a workshop at the US National Institutes of Health. All other authors declare no competing interests. Publisher Copyright: © 2013.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - In 2013, a silent wild poliovirus type 1 importation and sustained transmission event occurred in southern Israel. With the aim of preventing clinical poliomyelitis and ensuring virus re-elimination, the public health response to the importation event included intensifi cation of clinical and environmental surveillance activities, enhancement of vaccine coverage, and supplemental immunisation with a bivalent oral polio vaccine against wild poliovirus types 1 and 3. A national campaign launched in August, 2013, resulted in vaccination of 943 587 children younger than 10 years (79% of the eligible target population). Expanded environmental surveillance (roughly 80% population coverage) documented a gradual disappearance of wild poliovirus type 1 in the country from September, 2013, to April, 2014. No paralytic poliomyelitis case was detected. A prompt extensive and coordinated national public health response, implemented on the basis of evidence-based decision making, successfully contained this serious importation and sustained transmission event of wild poliovirus to Israel. On April 28, 2015, WHO offi cially declared Israel as a polio-free country.
AB - In 2013, a silent wild poliovirus type 1 importation and sustained transmission event occurred in southern Israel. With the aim of preventing clinical poliomyelitis and ensuring virus re-elimination, the public health response to the importation event included intensifi cation of clinical and environmental surveillance activities, enhancement of vaccine coverage, and supplemental immunisation with a bivalent oral polio vaccine against wild poliovirus types 1 and 3. A national campaign launched in August, 2013, resulted in vaccination of 943 587 children younger than 10 years (79% of the eligible target population). Expanded environmental surveillance (roughly 80% population coverage) documented a gradual disappearance of wild poliovirus type 1 in the country from September, 2013, to April, 2014. No paralytic poliomyelitis case was detected. A prompt extensive and coordinated national public health response, implemented on the basis of evidence-based decision making, successfully contained this serious importation and sustained transmission event of wild poliovirus to Israel. On April 28, 2015, WHO offi cially declared Israel as a polio-free country.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942196262&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00064-X
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00064-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 26213249
SN - 1473-3099
VL - 15
SP - 1236
EP - 1242
JO - The Lancet Infectious Diseases
JF - The Lancet Infectious Diseases
IS - 10
M1 - 70
ER -