Global progress toward laboratory containment of wild polioviruses–July 2001-August 2002

Since the World Health Assembly launched the Global Poliomyelitis Eradication Initiative in 1988 (see box), the number of countries in which wild poliovirus is endemic has decreased from 125 to 10 in 2001. Three of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions (Americas, European, and Western Pacific) have been certified as free of wild poliovirus transmission. The Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis will declare the world polio-free when all regions have documented the absence of wild poliovirus transmission for at least 3 consecutive years and when laboratories with wild poliovirus-containing materials have implemented appropriate containment conditions. This report describes preparations for laboratory containment and the creation of a global inventory of laboratories and institutions retaining wild poliovirus and summarizes global progress since July 2001. The data indicate that substantial progress has been made in identifying laboratories with wild poliovirus-containing materials and in conducting national wild poliovirus inventories.