MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Mar 2000
Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication--Democratic Republic of Congo, 1996-1999.
In 1988, the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate poliomyelitis by December 31, 2000 (1). Although progress has been extraordinary (2), full implementation of polio eradication strategies has been delayed in several countries affected by war. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has experienced continual armed conflict since October 1996. ⋯ DRC is an important global reservoir for wild poliovirus and shares more than 5580 miles (9000 km) of border with nine countries; in at least seven of these countries polio is endemic. The large area of DRC, substantial amount of poverty, weak health-care infrastructure, poor transportation and communication, and competing demands for resources present considerable challenges to polio eradication. This report summarizes information on the existing health-care infrastructure and routine coverage, information from NIDs carried out in 1999, and results from the recently established surveillance system for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP).
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Mar 2000
Update: Surveillance for West Nile virus in overwintering mosquitoes--New York, 2000.
Following the 1999 West Nile encephalitis outbreak in New York, guidelines were developed to direct surveillance, prevention, and control efforts in the eastern United States. As recommended in the guidelines, the New York City and New York state departments of health developed comprehensive West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance and control programs, which included collecting overwintering Culex mosquitoes to determine whether WNV might persist throughout the winter and initiate a zoonotic transmission cycle in the spring of 2000. As part of this surveillance effort, adult Culex mosquitoes were collected from structures in New York City during January-February 2000 to determine whether overwintering mosquitoes were infected with WNV. This report summarizes the results of this analysis, which documented WNV RNA in some mosquito pools.