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Strategies for Improving Polio Surveillance Performance in the Security-Challenged Nigerian States of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe During 2009–2014

Tuesday, 15th of December 2015

Strategies for Improving Polio Surveillance Performance in the Security-Challenged Nigerian States of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe During 2009–2014

1. Abdullahi Walla Hamisu1,
2. Ticha Muluh Johnson1,
3. Kehinde Craig1,
4. Pascal Mkanda3,
5. Richard Banda1,
6. Sisay G. Tegegne1,
7. Ajiboye Oyetunji1,
8. Nuhu Ningi1,
9. Said M. Mohammed1,
10. Mohammed Isa Adamu1,
11. Khalid Abdulrahim1,
12. Peter Nsubuga4,
13. Rui Gama VAZ1 and
14. Ado J. G. Muhammed2

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹World Health Organization, Country Representative Office
2. ²National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Abuja, Nigeria
3. ³World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Brazzaville, Congo
4. ⁴Global Public Health Solutions, Atlanta, Georgia

1. Correspondence: A. W. Hamisu, World Health Organization Nigeria Country Office, Abuja, Nigeria (abdullahih@who.int).

Abstract below; full text is at http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/12/09/infdis.jiv530.full?papetoc

Background. The security-challenged states of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe bear most of the brunt of the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. The security challenge has led to the killing of health workers, destruction of health facilities, and displacement of huge populations. To identify areas of polio transmission and promptly detect possible cases of importation in these states, polio surveillance must be very sensitive.

Methods. We conducted a retrospective review of acute flaccid paralysis surveillance in the security-compromised states between 2009 and 2014, using the acute flaccid paralysis database at the World Health Organization Nigeria Country Office. We also reviewed the reports of surveillance activities conducted in these security-challenged states, to identify strategies that were implemented to improve polio surveillance.

Results.  Environmental surveillance was implemented in Borno in 2013 and in Yobe in 2014. All disease surveillance and notification officers in the 3 security-challenged states now receive annual training, and the number of community informants in these states has dramatically increased. Media-based messaging (via radio and television) is now used to sensitize the public to the importance of surveillance, and contact samples have been regularly collected in both states since 2014.

Conclusions. The strategies implemented in the security-challenged states improved the quality of polio surveillance during the review period.

• Received September 1, 2015.
• Accepted October 27, 2015.

• © 2015 World Health Organization; licensee Oxford Journals.

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This Article

1. J Infect Dis. (2015) doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiv530 First published online: December 10, 2015