The World Health Organization says active type 2 poliovirus outbreaks in Africa have dropped from 24 countries in 2024 to 14 in 2025.
Officials credit stronger partnerships and expanded vaccination campaigns.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced a major drop in the number of African countries battling active type 2 poliovirus outbreaks, falling from 24 in 2024 to 14 in 2025.
According to the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Janabi, detections of the virus have also reduced by 54 percent during the same period. He shared the update in a statement to mark the 2025 World Polio Day, observed every October 24 to celebrate progress toward a polio-free world and honor health workers leading eradication efforts.
This year’s theme, “End Polio: Every Child, Every Vaccine, Everywhere,” calls for continued global action to ensure that no child is left unprotected.
Dr. Janabi said African countries have shown strong commitment, innovation, and cooperation in the fight against polio, adding that the results in 2025 reflect the benefits of political will, regional partnerships, and better health systems.
“Africa is making remarkable progress towards eradicating polio,” he said. “We have seen stronger cross-border collaboration, improved surveillance, and expanded vaccination campaigns reaching millions of children.”
Between January and October 2025, 15 African countries vaccinated nearly 200 million children, with 13 of them running synchronized immunization rounds, even in high-risk and conflict-affected areas. In the Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia jointly vaccinated over 18 million children, which WHO described as a major milestone for regional collaboration.
Dr. Janabi said that in April, Health Ministers across the continent launched a campaign to vaccinate 83 million children, helping to reduce both outbreaks and detection rates. By October 2025, two countries had reported type 1 cases, 14 reported type 2, and three recorded type 3 cases.
He also highlighted that Madagascar successfully ended its circulating variant poliovirus type 1 outbreak in May after a sustained national response.
WHO said stronger laboratory systems are also driving progress. By mid-2025, 11 WHO-supported labs across Africa had expanded genomic sequencing capacity, while six began using advanced virus detection tools. Uganda’s newly accredited Sanger sequencing facility has further improved Africa’s ability to track virus variants.
Environmental surveillance has also grown significantly, with 98 percent of countries in the WHO African Region now testing wastewater and sewage for polioviruses, a move that provides early warnings and helps stop transmission faster.
Dr. Janabi said the progress shows that “when countries work together, polio can be defeated,” urging continued investment to ensure every child is reached and protected.
