Countrywide poliovirus tally soars to 45 after two new cases detected

• NIH says two new cases of wild poliovirus are of type 1.
• Poliovirus crippled a girl, boy in Lakki Marwat, DI Khan.
• Balochistan reports highest number of cases this year.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The National Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Saturday said two new cases of wild poliovirus had surfaced in the country, swelling the nationwide tally to 45.

The National EOC said one poliovirus case was detected in a girl, resident of Lakki Marwat, and the other in a boy, resident of Dera Ismail Khan.

As per the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), the two new cases of wild poliovirus are of type 1, The News reported.

This marks the second polio case this year from each of these districts, where environmental samples had already tested positive for WPV1, underlining a high risk of virus transmission in the region.

The health personnel said they were trying to trace the virus transmission patterns as genetic sequencing of samples collected from the affected kids was afoot.

Out of the 45 cases detected in Pakistan this year, 22 were reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, 9 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign is currently ongoing in the country to continue till November 3, aiming to vaccinate over 45 million children under the age of five against the virus.

With Pakistan being one of only two countries where wild poliovirus transmission has not been eradicated, health officials are urging parents to actively participate in the upcoming nationwide polio vaccination campaign.

Officials stress the importance of full participation as incomplete vaccination coverage leaves communities vulnerable to the continued spread and resurgence of polio.

The urgency of the campaign is underscored by the virus’s persistence, which officials say is due to various challenges in vaccination coverage, including vaccine refusals, high population movement, and gaps in reaching remote areas.

Since its launch in 1994, Pakistan’s polio eradication programme has largely contained the virus. However, recent genetic traces show that WPV1 is still circulating in previously controlled areas.

The current challenge is to eliminate polio’s final strongholds through ongoing vaccinations and public cooperation.