BREAKING! Eradicated Polio Type 2 Strain Makes Mysterious Return in Papua New Guinea Raising Fears of a New Lineage!
Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team May 17, 2025 1 day, 2 hours, 40 minutes ago
Medical News: Shocking Revival of a Deadly Virus
A worrying health development has emerged in Papua New Guinea as a strain of the type 2 poliovirus—officially declared eradicated globally 26 years ago—has mysteriously reappeared. Even more disturbing, early assessments from health experts and genome sequencing efforts suggest that this may not be a typical vaccine-derived strain like the commonly seen circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), but rather a variant of the original highly virulent wild poliovirus, possibly hinting at a new and previously unidentified lineage.
BREAKING! Eradicated Polio Type 2 Strain Makes Mysterious Return in Papua New Guinea Raising Fears of a New Lineage!
This
Medical News report reveals that two asymptomatic children in the city of Lae tested positive for type 2 poliovirus, with environmental surveillance further confirming its presence in wastewater samples collected from Lae and the capital city, Port Moresby. The World Health Organization (WHO), working alongside Papua New Guinea’s Department of Health, UNICEF, and other partners, has now launched an emergency national response.
A Puzzling Genetic Trail
The poliovirus detected in Papua New Guinea has shown genetic links to a strain circulating in neighboring Indonesia. While scientists are still analyzing the genomic sequence, early data suggests divergence from existing cVDPV2 strains, which are typically associated with outbreaks in countries like Pakistan, parts of Africa, and recently, Gaza. Instead, this strain seems more closely aligned with remnants of the original wild poliovirus type 2, which had not been detected globally since 1999 and was officially declared eradicated in 2015.
Health experts are now speculating whether this could represent a long-dormant but active variant or even a novel lineage that has evolved in hidden reservoirs. Some believe that low vaccination rates in PNG, which hover around 50 percent nationally and drop as low as 8 percent in remote districts, have created the perfect storm for this resurgence.
How Dangerous is Polio
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a highly infectious disease that primarily affects children under five. It is spread through contaminated water, food, or direct contact with an infected person’s feces. While most infected individuals show no symptoms, a small fraction develop flu-like illness, and fewer than 1 in 100 go on to experience acute flaccid paralysis—where the limbs become weak or paralyzed. In severe cases, the virus can affect the diaphragm and cause breathing failure, leading to death.
There is no cure for polio. The only defense is vaccination, making immunization efforts critical to prevent outbreaks.
A History of Eradication and Worrying New Trends
Wild poliovirus type 2 was declared eradicated in 2015 by the WHO, following its last known detection in India back in 1999. Since then, the world&
;rsquo;s focus has shifted to containing vaccine-derived strains, which occasionally emerge in under-immunized communities due to mutations in the weakened live virus used in oral vaccines.
Papua New Guinea had been considered polio-free since 2000. A small outbreak in 2018 was swiftly contained, and no cases had been reported since—until now. The emergence of this possibly wild-type-related virus has alarmed public health officials.
In response, the WHO and UNICEF have initiated a mass immunization drive targeting children under the age of 10, aiming to reach approximately 3.5 million people. The campaign is also receiving support from the Australian government. Papua New Guinea’s Health Minister Elias Kapavore has pledged to achieve 100 percent vaccination coverage by the end of the year, calling the outbreak a national emergency.
Threat to the Region and Beyond
Though experts say the risk of the virus spreading to Australia is low due to high vaccination coverage and strong public health systems, the situation in PNG still poses a serious regional threat. The Torres Strait, with close human traffic between Papua New Guinea and Australia, is particularly vulnerable.
Dr Linda Selvey from the University of Queensland warned that even without clinical symptoms, undetected infections could silently spread in areas with poor health infrastructure. “Polio anywhere is a threat everywhere,” echoed Dr Sevil Huseynova of WHO, emphasizing that under-immunized populations worldwide remain at risk.
Are We Looking at a New Lineage?
Global health agencies are now working urgently to determine whether this re-emergent strain is a mutated remnant of the wild type or a completely new lineage altogether. If confirmed, it would mark a serious setback in the global polio eradication campaign and raise new questions about the long-term effectiveness of surveillance and vaccine strategies.
Ongoing studies are sequencing the virus to track its evolution and uncover whether dormant viral reservoirs could be hiding in isolated populations or environmental sources. Such findings could reshape how we approach eradication and long-term virus containment.
Conclusion
The return of a strain of type 2 poliovirus in Papua New Guinea, 26 years after its eradication, has shocked health authorities worldwide. While investigations are ongoing, early findings suggest the virus is not a common vaccine-derived type but potentially a divergent lineage of the wild strain itself. This unsettling discovery raises significant concerns about viral persistence in under-immunized regions and highlights the weaknesses in global disease surveillance. Papua New Guinea’s low vaccination rates, coupled with poor sanitation and fragile healthcare systems, have created fertile ground for this virus to resurface. International aid agencies are now scrambling to roll out emergency vaccination campaigns and improve disease monitoring. The potential emergence of a new lineage of the virus would complicate global eradication efforts and reinforce the reality that complacency in immunization programs can undo decades of progress. What happens in Papua New Guinea today could very well impact the world tomorrow.
References:
https://polioeradication.org/about-polio/the-virus/vaccine-derived-polioviruses/
https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/two-out-of-three-wild-poliovirus-strains-eradicated
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9men89yvo
https://www.news.com.au/world/asia/two-confirmed-cases-in-papua-new-guinea-polio-outbreak/news-story/5955211d03ea5b7d40fb88305ff8f62e
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-16/papua-new-guinea-polio-outbreak-and-risk-to-australia-explained/105298232
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-15/polio-outbreak-in-png/105297458
https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificreview/pacific-review/105279958
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