According to an expert associated with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a pause in immunization due to the COVID pandemic has led to the finding of fresh polio cases in countries like the US, the UK, and Mozambique. Dr. Ananda Sankar Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director of Technology, Research, and Analytics at the Foundation′s Polio Team, stated that these findings on the poliovirus are a reminder that the virus will remain a threat if it exists anywhere in the world.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay noted that any case of polio can be attributed to low immunization rates. He added that when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit in 2020, polio campaigns were briefly paused for four months to protect communities and health workers from the coronavirus. However, this move has led to an increased spread of the poliovirus in several countries.

In July 2022, poliovirus was found in an unvaccinated adult man in Rockland County, New York, as well as in several wastewater samples near his residence there. Further, poliovirus was also detected in sewage in north and east London between February and May 2022.

In May, the virus was found in Mozambique when a child contracted the disease. It was the second imported case of wild poliovirus in southern Africa after one in Malawi was detected in mid-February this year.

(Source: https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2022/oct/27/new-polio-cases-found-in-nations-due-to-pause-in-immunisation-during-covid-time-expert-2512205.html )