Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 043 (ConfProc7) | Published: 22 Jun 2026
Augustine Opoku1,&, Florence Nzilanye Iddrisah1, Amara Leno1, Mohamed Salieu Bah1, Samuel Kwabena Appiah1, Hectoria Awekeya2, Eunice Abuaku3, Annette Asraku2, Holy Alomatu2, Charles Lwanga Noora1, Ernest Kenu1
1Ghana FELTP, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana, 2Eastern Region Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Koforidua, 3New Juaben South Municipal Health Directorate, Ghana Health Service, Koforidua
&Corresponding author: Augustine Opoku, Ghana FELTP, University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana, Email: augustine.opoku@rocketmail.com
Received: 23 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 22 Jun 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Vaccine-derived poliovirus, Outbreak, Polio, Unvaccinated children, New Juaben South
©Augustine Opoku et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Augustine Opoku et al. Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 outbreak investigation in New Juaben South Municipality, Eastern Region, Ghana, 2024. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):043. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0043
Circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks pose a high risk of spread, threatening public health and global efforts to eradicate poliomyelitis. On 6th September, 2024, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research reported a circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) to the Ghana Health Service, following a sample collected at the Koforidua environmental surveillance site. The outbreak was investigated from 13th to 18th September 2024 to determine the source, assess human transmission risk, and implement control and preventive measures.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative’s standard operating procedures were used in the polio outbreak response in New Juaben South Municipality. We engaged stakeholders, reviewed records, evaluated Acute Flaccid Paralysis surveillance (AFP), assessed environmental risk, water quality, polio vaccination performance, and searched communities for AFP cases. We sampled 80 households and collected stool samples from 34 healthy children under age five. We analyzed data descriptively, and the results were presented in charts, percentages, and text.
The investigation found that open defecation along the Nsukwao River, improper waste management, and inadequate drainage systems could serve as sources of poliovirus transmission. The routine immunization coverage of Oral Polio Vaccine 1 and 3, and Inactivated Polio Vaccine had consistently declined. Supplementary immunization coverage for IPV among children aged 1-5 years was low (4.8%, 3/63), and around 94.1% (16/17) of children under 12 months were unvaccinated for OPV. Approximately 85.7% (6/7) of informal surveillance facilities lacked knowledge of AFP or polio symptoms, and more than half (56.8%, 21/37) of health facilities had weak active surveillance. No AFP case was detected, all 34 stool samples tested negative, and no coliforms were present in piped water sources.
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