Tuesday, October 29, 2013.
Following reports of a cluster of 22 acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases on 17 October 2013 in the Syrian Arab Republic, wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been isolated from ten of the cases under investigation. Final genetic sequencing results are pending to determine the origin of the isolated viruses. WPV had not been detected in Syria since 1999.
Most of the cases are very young (aged <2 years), and were un- or under-immunized. Estimated immunization rates in Syria declined from 91% in 2010 to 68% in 2012.