India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has reported that it has investigated approximately 18,000 cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in the country since January 2015 as part of its national polio surveillance program, established in 1997, and that all of the cases have tested negative for poliovirus. Some 50,000 cases of AFP are being detected annually in India.12
According to a press release issued by the Ministry:
India is polio-free. The country reported its last case of wild poliovirus in 2011. After three consecutive polio-free years, the South-East Asia Region of WHO, comprising of 11 countries (including India), was certified polio-free on 27 March 2014. Despite this progress, India has maintained a high vigil and ensured that no complacency sets in order to maintain the polio-free status for the last more than 4 years. It has taken appropriate actions to ensure high population immunity against polio as well as for maintaining a sensitive surveillance system for poliovirus detection.1