Environmental surveillance of poliovirus in four districts within two regions of Ghana

The eradication of poliovirus is at its last phase through the efforts and strategies of Global Polio Eradication Initiation (GPEI). There are very few countries that are still endemic with wild poliovirus (WPV) and others with circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV). The aim of the study was to detect silent circulation of WPV and VDPV in four districts within the Eastern and Volta region of Ghana. A systematic longitudinal design was used for the study. The convenient sampling technique was used to collect the samples every four weeks from two open and close sewage systems. The open sewage systems were located in New Juabeng and Ho districts while the close sewage systems were located in Asuogyaman and Ketu South districts. A total of 35 sewage samples were collected from September 2018 to May 2019. L20B and RD cell lines were used for the purification of poliovirus (PV) while real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) was use to characterize the serotypes of the PVs. The findings of the study showed that the prevalence of non-polio enterovirus (NPEV) and Sabin were 65.71% and 14.29% respectively. The characterized Sabins were serotype 1 and serotype 3 which were circulating in the two districts within the Eastern Region. The study did not detect any WPV and VDPV but isolated Sabin strains of the poliovirus. This necessitates the need for continuous environmental surveillance for poliovirus nationwide. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study was funded by WHO Country Office and the Rotary Club, Ghana ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript