WHO reluctant to release Meghalaya polio case details

• The WHO and India’s Health Ministry have been hesitant to disclose the details of a polio case in Meghalaya, India.
• The case was confirmed as a type-1 vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) by the ICMR-NIV Mumbai unit and CDC Atlanta.
• The case was not a case of immunodeficiency related vaccine-derived poliovirus (iVDPV), but rather a live, weakened type-1 virus strain used in the bivalent oral polio vaccine.
• The case is referred to as VDPV type-1, not circulating VDPV (cVDPV) type-1.
• Despite sharing all the case details with The Hindu, the WHO has not made any official announcement of the case.
• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has also not made any official announcement of the case.
• The WHO Disease Outbreak News website has not posted any information about the Meghalaya polio case.
• The WHO’s secretive approach to Zika virus cases in Gujarat raises questions about the WHO’s leniency in publishing the details of the Meghalaya polio case.