MONROVIA, Montserrado – The Ministry of Health has confirmed that test results on the six suspected polio cases reported in Nimba were negative.

Dr. Collins Saa Bowah, Nimba’s county health officer, previously disclosed that six samples of suspected polio disease were collected during the recent polio immunization campaign in the county.

The deputy program manager for polio immunization at the Ministry of Health, Adolphus T. Clarke, said the samples were brought to Monrovia from Zoegeh and Gbarley-Geh districts in Nimba.

Clarke, however, drew attention to Liberia’s inability to test the suspected polio samples, explaining that they had to be flown to the World Health Organization’s inter-country laboratory in Cote d’Ivoire for testing.

The deputy program manager for polio immunization at the Ministry of Health, Adolphus T. Clarke. Photo: Zeze Ballah

Although he did not provide the specifics, Clarke said there is a huge financial cost associated with sending polio samples out of the country for testing.

“WHO is handling the cost of samples sent to its inter-country laboratory in the Ivory Coast,” he added.

A particular challenge Liberia faces, Clarke said, is being able to get the polio samples to the lab in a timely manner because the logistics company used, DHL, only flies to Cote d’Ivoire three times a week.

“Health authorities have to make sure that the samples are collected, then packaged in time with the flight schedule,” he said.

Clarke emphasized the need for Liberia to obtain the proper equipment and trained laboratory technicians to be able to conduct its own tests for polio.

Polio is caused by the poliovirus, a highly contagious and crippling disease that can invade an infected person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.

Featured photo by Julien Harneis