Tally hits 45 as two new polio cases detected

45 cases are distributed across Balochistan (22 cases), Sindh (12), KP (9), and one case in Punjab and Islamabad

By M Waqar Bhatti
November 02, 2024
A boy receives polio vaccine drops during an anti-polio campaign in a low-income neighborhood in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 9, 2018. — Reuters
A boy receives polio vaccine drops during an anti-polio campaign in a low-income neighborhood in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 9, 2018. — Reuters

ISLAMABAD: The detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases has raised Pakistan’s total polio cases to 45 this year, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH). The latest cases, confirmed on Friday, include a girl from Lakki Marwat and a boy from DI Khan.

Genetic sequencing of samples collected from the affected children is currently underway, NIH officials said, as health authorities continue to trace the virus transmission patterns. This marks the second polio case this year from each of these districts, where environmental samples had already tested positive for WPV1, underscoring a high risk of virus transmission in the region. Overall, the 45 cases in Pakistan this year are distributed across Balochistan (22 cases), Sindh (12), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (9), with one case each in Punjab and Islamabad.