Dr Steven Wassilak, Medical Officer with the WHO Poliomyelitis Eradication Programme in Europe, explains why. A formal poliomyelitis eradication certification review process for countries in the WHO European Region has been under way since 1998. Laboratory containment of wild polioviruses is a complex issue, as all laboratories in each country of the Region must participate. This means, for example, that certain university laboratories outside the control of Ministries of Health will have to be willing to meet high standards of containment, or one day to destroy wild poliovirus and possibly infectious specimens in their possession. WHO will convene a subregional meeting in December 2000 in Prague, Czech Republic, at which participating countries will present their national plans for containment.
Surveillance is key.
Poliovirus can be re-imported into a country in a matter of hours. Importations have been documented in France in 1996, China in 1998 and Syria in 1999. This includes large areas in Africa and the Indian subcontinent. More than 190 countries and territories will have interrupted poliovirus transmission by the end of 2000. The Region of the Americas was declared polio-free in 1994.