Agence France-Presse: Polio case detected in Mali, country on ‘high alert’: WHO
“Mali is on high alert after a baby was found to have the highly contagious, crippling polio virus, the World Health Organization said Monday, blaming low vaccination coverage…” (9/7).

New York Times: West African Child Is Paralyzed by Vaccine-Derived Polio
“…It is the first time the disease has been seen in Mali since 2011. The patient is a Guinean child whose parents traveled to Bamako seeking medical care. The child’s virus is a close genetic match to a strain last detected in a nearby region of Guinea in 2014…” (McNeil, 9/7).

Popular Science: New Polio Case Confirmed In Mali
“…This particular strain of polio is vaccine-derived, which sometimes happens with oral vaccination. This type of vaccine uses weakened polio virus, which may sometimes mutate and make its way back into a community. Areas that are under-vaccinated are especially vulnerable. Still, circulating vaccine-derived polio is rare…” (Borel, 9/7).

Reuters: Polio resurfaces in Mali from Ebola-hit Guinea: WHO
“…WHO figures show Guinea’s polio vaccination coverage fell from 63 percent to 42 percent in 2014, as the Ebola outbreak caused chaos and overwhelmed an already weak national health system. In Mali, by contrast, polio vaccination coverage rose to 84 percent in 2014, from 72-77 percent in preceding years…” (Miles, 9/7).