Background: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began polio eradication activities in 1996. By 2001, DRC was no longer polio endemic. However, wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission was reestablished in 2006 continuing through 2011 (last WPV case onset 20 December 2011), and vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) outbreaks occurred during 2004-2012 (last VDPV2 case onset 4 April 2012). Gaps in acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance have been consistently documented.
Methods: AFP surveillance indicators were assessed at the national, provincial, and zone de santé (ZS) levels for 2010-2012. A spatiotemporal analysis of compatible, WPV type 1 (WPV1), and VDPV2 cases was performed.
Results: During 2010-2012, AFP cases were reported from all provinces but not every ZS, particularly in Equateur province and Province Orientale. A spatiotemporal relationship between compatible, WPV1, and VDPV2 cases was noted. Nonpolio AFP rates met objectives at national and provincial levels but were sub-optimal in certain ZS. National and provincial trends in timely stool collection, stool condition, adequate stool, and 60-day follow-up exams improved.
Conclusions: DRC's AFP surveillance system is functional and improved during 2010-2012. Maintaining improvements and strengthening AFP case detection at the ZS level will provide further support for the apparent interruption of WPV and VDPV2 transmission.
Keywords: Africa; Democratic Republic of the Congo; acute flaccid paralysis; polio eradication; surveillance; vaccine-derived poliovirus; wild poliovirus.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.