Another case of poliovirus has been reported in Pakistan’s Sindh province after a child was paralysed, taking the total number of cases in the country to 16 by 2024, an official told the media on Friday.
A 29-month-old girl from the province’s Hyderabad district has been confirmed to be infected with wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV1), an official at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication of the Islamabad-based National Institute of Health (NIH) said, according to news agency Xinhua.
According to the official, symptoms of poliovirus have been detected in 62 districts of the South Asian country so far this year, which is much higher than 28 districts last year.
“This is the first case of polio in Hyderabad, the third in Sindh and the 16th in Pakistan this year,” the NIH official said. He said 12 cases had been reported in southwestern Balochistan province, three in Sindh and one in eastern Punjab province.
“The latest case is a stark reminder that until we eradicate this virus from our country, no child is safe from its devastating effects,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister’s focal person for polio eradication.
He said WPV1 has been consistently reported in sewage samples from Hyderabad for the past four months, posing a risk of polio outbreak elsewhere in the country.
“We are operating at an emergency level in all provinces given the intensity of the outbreak and the extent of spread of the virus. The polio programme is implementing a comprehensive roadmap to stop transmission of the virus, starting with a comprehensive, mass polio vaccination campaign from September 9,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Anwar-ul-Haq, coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, said an intensive investigation was being carried out to trace the origin of the virus and vaccinate children.
He said, “The polio virus has been spreading in Karachi and adjacent districts of Hyderabad for several months.”
“The well-being of every child is important to us, and we will launch a vaccination drive in all the affected districts from September 9 to boost the immunity of children.”
Polio has been eradicated in developed countries, but it still exists in parts of India, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Many Pakistanis, especially those living in conservative tribal areas, see polio vaccination as a Western campaign aimed at sterilizing the country’s population. In 2012, the local Taliban ordered a ban on polio vaccination in some tribal districts.
Nearly a dozen policemen have been killed this year while on security duty during the vaccination drive, which is often targeted by militants.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
