Claims of poliovirus detected in Kolkata sewage sample not true: Official Sources
Jun 15, 2022
By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], June 15 : Government officials on Wednesday refuted media reports that claimed the presence of vaccine-derived poliovirus in the sample of sewage waters in Kolkata.
"Some media reports have claimed that polio virus had been detected in sewage samples in Kolkata. It is clarified that the report is incorrect," official sources told ANI.
According to sources, the last time such VDPV (Vaccine Derived Poliovirus) was detected was in New Delhi in 2018 and the National Institute of Virology, Mumbai had conducted a genetic sequencing.
"It said that Vaccine Derived Polio Virus was detected in our environmental surveillance of sewage. Not wild poliovirus. The genetic sequencing was done at NIV, Mumbai and also discussed with WHO. It can occur in any country where the Oral Polio vaccine is given," added government sources.
According to the reports available, the last case of polio in India was reported from Howrah, West Bengal on January 13, 2011.
Since then, India has been free of the disease, officially receiving polio-free certification from the World Health Organization on March 27, 2014.
