Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication–Egypt, 2001

The 1988 World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis worldwide by 2000. Since then, the estimated number of polio cases has decreased by >99%. The Americas and the Western Pacific regions of the World Health Organization (WHO) have been certified polio-free, and it is expected that the European Region will be certified this year. Progress also has been made in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR), where polio is endemic in five of 22 countries (Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sudan). This report summarizes progress toward polio eradication from 1997 through 2001 in Egypt, where several independent chains of wild poliovirus type 1 continue to circulate despite a long history of eradication efforts. The findings indicate the need to improve surveillance and vaccination activities.