The opinion comes in a statement released on Tuesday following the latest meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) that provides technical advice on international public health emergencies.
“The Committee unanimously agreed that the risk of international spread of poliovirus remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and recommended the extension of Temporary Recommendations for a further three months”, it said.
The Emergency Committee, which met in December, expressed concern over “the significant increase” in cases of wild poliovirus 1 (WPVI), the last of three strains to be eliminated.
There were 28 cases in 2018, compared to 113 as at mid-December last year, “with no significant success yet in reversing this trend.”
Transmission remains widespread in Pakistan, where challenges include continued refusal to accept vaccination by individuals and communities. There was also evidence of further spread to neighbouring Afghanistan, where ongoing instability makes scores of children inaccessible, particularly in the south.