Polio in Benin
20 August 2019
Article: 53/3306
On 14 August 2019, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative reported a case of polio in Benin in Kalale district, Borgou State, with onset of paralysis on 7 July 2019. The possibility of other cases remains high.
Advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) is that all travellers to polio-affected areas should be fully vaccinated against polio. The TRAVAX and fitfortravel websites have been updated to advise that all travellers to Benin should consider a booster of poliomyelitis vaccine if it has been more than 10 years since most recent vaccination.
The WHO also advises that residents from infected areas and visitors living in these areas for more than four weeks should receive an additional dose of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) within four weeks to 12 months of travel.
Further advice on poliomyelitis can be found on the TRAVAX (for health professionals) and fitfortravel (for the general public) websites.