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The polio virus has been found in sewage samples near Sao Paulo in Brazil, one of the host cities for the current World Cup football tournament, the World Health Organization said.
No human case of the disease has been reported in Brazil so far.
The samples were collected in March at the Viracopos International Airport in Campinas in the southeastern part of the country. Tests at a national lab confirmed the virus on Jun 18, the WHO said in a statement.
The isolate was detected through routine environmental surveillance, and there has been no evidence of WPV1 transmission or polio cases, the agency said. Subsequent sampling has turned up no further WPV1, only evidence of vaccine-derived viruses.
“Genetic sequencing indicated a close match with a strain of WPV1 that was recently isolated from a case of polio in Equatorial Guinea. Additional epidemiological investigation is ongoing,” the WHO said.
Brazilian health officials have stepped up surveillance for further evidence of environmental WPV1 and for human cases. Vaccination coverage rates in Sao Paulo state top 95%.
Agencies/Canadajournal
