Poliovirus found in sewage of Karachi for first time in 14 months

The Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, on Saturday confirmed the detection of Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in an environmental sample collected from the Landhi area of Karachi in August 2022, said officials of the federal ministry of national health services.

They explained that this was the first positive environmental sample from Sindh this year.

A total of 11 positive environmental samples were detected in the country in August 2022 alone, five each from Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Sindh, officials said adding that so far, the total number of positive environmental samples in 2022 was 22.

The federal ministry’s officials said the environmental sample that was found positive in Karachi was collected on August 23 from the Bakhtawar Village in the Landhi area of Karachi.

“This is the first positive environmental sample from Karachi in 2022. The previous positive sample from Karachi was reported in May 2021. The last Wild Poliovirus case from the district was reported in June 2020. The recent Polio campaign in the district was conducted from August 15 till 21,” an official explained.

Thirteen positive environmental samples in 2022 have been collected from KP, including seven from Bannu, three from Peshawar, two from Swat and one from Nowshera. Seven positive samples have been collected from Punjab, including three from Lahore, two from Rawalpindi, and one each from Bahawalpur and Sialkot. One positive sample each have been collected from Karachi and Islamabad.

Of these 22 positive samples, one was collected in April, two in May, one in June, seven in July, and 11 in August 2022, the official said, adding that in 2021, 65 positive environmental samples were detected in the country.