The Union Ministry for Health and Family Welfare has constituted an expert committee to study and analyse a report from scientists at the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) stating that goats too are involved in the transmission of polio virus. The expert committee would comprise scientists from the NICD, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and representatives of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to a senior official of the Ministry, the expert committee has been constituted and analysis of the report has already started.

An unconfirmed report from the scientists of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has overthrown the current notion that humans are the only host of the polio virus. It claims that goats too can get involved in the cycle of transmission. The scientists found this revealing fact while investigating a disease outbreak in Gombli village in Tamil Nadu. The scientists managed to detect polio antibodies in goats implying that goats too can get involved in the cycle of transmission of the polio virus.

Since the study has possibilities of giving jolt to the National Polio Eradication Programme the Ministry has constituted the team in order to properly analyse the report so as to eliminate the thought of goats too being involved in the cycle of transmission of polio virus. The analysis of the report would be done in the background of increasing incidence of polio in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The two states have had high incidence of polio last year, and the analysis will line up the process to see if any there is any involvement of goats in the high incidence of polio.

What will further give a jolt to the National Polio Eradication Programme is the fact that the scientists too have been able to isolated polio (vaccine) virus from the adults of the village who had developed paralysis and died. According to NICD, subsequent analysis by the Entero-Viruses Research Centre, Mumbai, showed the same to be the mutated form of the strain currently used in the vaccination programme suggesting that the vaccine strain has reverted to the wild type.

The expert committee constituted will help to see if any change is required in Eradication Programme after the team submits its report to the Ministry.