[Current Status of Surveillance and Management for Maintaining Polio Eradication in the Republic of Korea]

Polioviruses cause poliomyelitis; no cases have been reported in the Republic of Korea (ROK) since 1984. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the country as a polio-free country. Polio-free countries are required to submit annual reports in order to maintain their status. The current report summarizes the 2024 annual report submitted to the 30th Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication. In the ROK, the risk of polio is low owing to high vaccination rates; however, the risk of poliovirus infection cannot be dismissed completely due to the increase in the number of foreign immigrants and international travel. In addition, polio is endemic in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in certain African nations. In July 2024, the 38th Emergency Committee stated that polio will continue to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, necessitating enhanced surveillance efforts. Moreover, complementary surveillance through environmental monitoring was introduced to detect the circulation of wild-type and vaccine-derived polioviruses in communities. Continuous encouragement of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance has allowed the ROK to meet the WHO standards (above 1.0) for the first time in 4 years since 2019. In August this year, the National Certification Committee confirmed that the ROK's polio-free country status has been maintained. Regular training and awareness programs are necessary to improve the quality of AFP surveillance, and efforts should be made to enhance reporting by establishing an "automated reporting system for AFP cases."