Two months later, Meghalaya polio case remains secret.

• India’s Health Ministry and Gujarat government covered up three Zika virus cases in 2017 and informed the WHO about the outbreak in Gujarat in May 2017.
• Eight years later, India has been hesitant to disclose details of a polio case detected in Meghalaya’s West Garo Hills district in August.
• The ICMR-NIV Mumbai Unit confirmed that the polio case in Meghalaya was a type-1 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV), and reported the results to the Union Health Ministry, the Meghalaya State government, and the WHO.
• The first report of the polio case published by PTI on August 14 called it a “suspected” case of polio.
• A Union Health Ministry official suggested that the polio case was vaccine-derived and the child was “immuocompromised”.
• The case was confirmed as being vaccine-derived polio, and ruled out wild-type virus causing polio in the child.
• Health officials in Meghalaya were ambiguous on whether the case was vaccine-derived or caused by wild poliovirus.
• Dr. Ofrin, WHO Representative to India, clarified that the Union Ministry officials and Meghalaya health officials were making conflicting and incorrect statements.
• The virus has been confirmed as type 1 VDPV by ICMR-NIV Mumbai and CDC Atlanta, and no evidence of the virus being circulating in the community.