Blantyre District Health Office has confirmed a new case of polio in the country, bringing the total number of cases to five.
The latest case, a 14-year-old girl in Ndirande, was confirmed on December 2, 2022.
Director of health and social services for Blantyre, Gift Kawalazira, stated that his team is currently conducting contact tracing for the patient’s family and neighbors.
He also reassured the public that there is no cause for alarm, as the country has been able to vaccinate more children through polio vaccination campaigns.
This new case comes just months after Malawi confirmed its first polio case in 30 years, a three-year-old girl in Lilongwe, on February 17, 2022.
Despite this setback, Malawi obtained a polio-free status in 2005 and the WHO African region received its first polio-free status certificate in 2020.
