Speaking to Asianet Newsable, Rajeswar Tiwari, Principal Health Secretary said, "It is a low-risk strain. Still as per protocol, we will launch a preventive operation. There was nothing panic about this discovery of the strain."
"The strain was discovered during routine surveillance in Hyderabad. It's called 'Vaccine Derived Polio Virus' Type-2. The strain was found in sewage samples collected from a small area in the state capital. As per WHO protocols, surveillance has been underway for quite some time. We had sent the samples to a laboratory in Mumbai, which confirmed the existence of the 'Vaccine Derived Polio Virus' strain in the sewage sample," Tiwari said.
He said no alert had been sounded so far. But preventive measures would be taken up as per the WHO protocol, he added.
"This is not a widespread problem across the Telangana, nor even in Hyderabad. It's confined to a small area of the city. It's of a low-risk variety," he added, confirming that the discovery occurred on June 7.
The Telangana government is planning a massive vaccination drive soon. Immunisation of 3.5 lakh children will begin in a couple of days.
The Telangana government, like all other Indian states, has been conducting random checks of sewage as part of the national surveillance launched ever since the country was declared polio-free in 2014. The last polio case had been detected in 2011 in West Bengal.
"Arrangements are afoot to launch immunisation of the children in Hyderabad. In all probability vaccination will commence from Monday," Tiwari said.
