No fewer than 18 cases of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) have been recorded in nine states across 18 local government areas of the country.

The outbreak of the deadly variant of poliomyelitis was recorded in the last three months, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has confirmed.

According to UNICEF, Kano accounted for three cases uncovered in Warawa, Nasarawa, and Bunkure local government areas of the state, amid zero immunization and misconceptions against the deadly infection.

cVDPV refers to a type of poliovirus that arises from the oral polio vaccine (OPV), used in the prevention of polio.

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), on rare occasions, the weakened virus in the OPV can mutate and begin to circulate within a community, causing infections and potentially paralysis, similar to wild poliovirus.

Senior Education Manager and Officer-in-Charge, UNICEF Field Office, Kano, Michael Banda, made the revelation during a media dialogue on polio and routine immunization in Kano.

Although Banda reminded that polio has been the leading cause of paralysis and death among children, he affirmed the disease is on the brink of eradication with vaccination of 3 billion children globally in the last 37 years.

The UNICEF boss, however, worried that the fight against polio is not over in some countries, including in Nigeria, because of low vaccination rates, thereby paving the way for polio outbreaks.

Banda explained that there is a collaboration with the Kano State Government through the Primary Health Care Management Board to broaden public knowledge on the potency of the vaccination.

He added that the media dialogue was targeted to solicit media support in raising awareness and mobilizing parents on the polio vaccination campaign in Kano ahead of World Immunization Week, beginning from 24th and 30th April 2025.

On her part, representative of Kano state Primary Healthcare Management Board, Hajia Saadatu Ibrahim, identified challenges of hard-to-reach settlements, missing houses, zero-dose vaccination, and poor healthcare workers as major setbacks.

She reassured that the government has a renewed strategy to overcome the challenges, including a new method of recruiting immunization workers and the involvement of external supervisors.