摘要：The Australian National Polio Reference Laboratory (NPRL) is responsible for virological confirmation ofpoliomyelitis in Australia. Since 1995, 1,204 untyped enterovirus or poliovirus isolates from six States have beenidentified and characterised. Of these, 666 were Sabin vaccine-like poliovirus, 498 were non-polio enterovirusesand 39 were other viruses or negative; one non-Sabin vaccine-like poliovirus was identified as a laboratorycontaminant. Early in 2000, the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL) was funded tocoordinate surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). From 1 January to 30 June 2000, 23 specimens from 13patients with AFP were processed and cultured for the presence of enterovirus; none was detected. A NationalCoordinator has been appointed to work with the VIDRL and the Commonwealth Department of Health and AgedCare (CDHAC) to implement the Australian component of the World Health Organization's global plan forcontainment of wild polioviruses. During April 2000 staff of the NPRL and CDHAC met with the RegionalCommission and staff of the World Health Organization (WHO) office of the Western Pacific Region (WPR) todiscuss documentation required to certify Australia as poliovirus free
