The Department of Health (DOH) today reported one (1)  confirmed polio case in Nueva Ecija, bringing the total number of polio cases in the country to seventeen.
 
The case is a one-year-old boy from Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. The patient manifested with fever and sudden onset weakness of the left lower limb. The case was detected through surveillance of AFP cases in the communities done and reported by barangay health workers.
 
DOH also reported that environmental samples collected from Butuanon River, Cebu tested positive for the poliovirus as confirmed by the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine.
 
In response to this development, DOH is closely coordinating with the World Health Organization for an appropriate vaccination response. DOH is assisting the Cities of Cabanatuan and Mandaue in strengthening their Acute Flaccid Paralysis surveillance capacities, including  their identification and reporting mechanisms.
 
“It is important that we are able to timely detect any acute onset of paralysis in children – especially within our communities. We have evidence that the poliovirus continues to spread. Our aim is to promptly diagnose and treat all possible polio cases,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
 
DOH continues to implement the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio (SPKP) campaign in the National Capital Region and all regions of Mindanao. The succeeding SPKP round will run from February 17 – March 1 in all regions of Mindanao and February 24 – March 8 in Metro Manila.