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Laos Launches Emergency Response After First Polio Outbreak in Nearly a Decade

This Week

Laos has confirmed its first polio outbreak in almost ten years, with three cases reported in Savannakhet Province, prompting an urgent nationwide vaccination campaign.

The Ministry of Health said the cases involved a three-year-old boy from Nathong village, who developed paralysis in June, and two girls, aged one and three, from Tang Waiy village in Xonnabouly district. Laboratory tests confirmed all three were infected with circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this strain is a mutated form of the oral polio vaccine virus that can spread in communities with low immunization coverage and cause paralysis.

Following the detection of the first case in June, health authorities, working with the WHO, provincial governments, and development partners, launched a large-scale response that includes door-to-door vaccination, intensified sanitation efforts, and enhanced disease surveillance. The campaign aims to reach every child under five years old in high-risk areas.

Deputy Health Minister Phaivanh Keopaseuth, during a field visit to Xonnabouly district on 20 October, urged health workers to maintain strict monitoring and ensure full vaccination coverage. He also stressed continuous health education and adherence to the “three cleanliness principles”, clean food, clean living, and good hygiene, while encouraging parents to vaccinate their children and deliver babies in health centers.

Local officials reported that vaccination coverage in affected villages has reached nearly 100 percent, though national surveillance remains heightened. The Ministry of Health has directed all provinces to prepare rapid response teams, strengthen daily reporting, and ensure sufficient vaccine supplies.

Poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly contagious viral disease that primarily affects children under five. It spreads through the faecal-oral route and can cause irreversible paralysis, according to WHO.

Meanwhile, Thailand has tightened health controls along border provinces, including Mukdahan, Amnat Charoen, Ubon Ratchathani, and Nakhon Phanom, and recommended vaccination for children aged one to five, as well as for foreign children under 15 living in at-risk areas.

Laos, declared polio-free in 2000, last reported cases in 2016, when two children in Bolikhamxay Province died from the virus.

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