Pakistan reports 16th polio case this year

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Pakistan reported another case of poliovirus after a child was paralyzed in the southern Sindh province, increasing the country’s total tally to 16 in 2024, an official told Xinhua on Friday.
An official from the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad said that the wild Poliovirus type-1 (WPV1) was confirmed in a 29-month-old girl from Hyderabad district of the province.
According to the official, poliovirus traces have been reported in 62 districts of the South Asian country so far this year, a significant increase from 28 districts last year.
“This is the first polio case from Hyderabad and the third from Sindh, and the 16th case in Pakistan this year,” said the NIH official, adding that 12 cases were reported from the southwestern Balochistan province, three from Sindh, and one from the eastern Punjab province.
Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq said, “The latest case is a clear reminder that until we eradicate this virus from our country, no child anywhere is safe from its devastating effects.”
She added that WPV1 was consistently being reported in sewage samples of Hyderabad for the last four months, reiterating the continued risk of polio circulating anywhere in the country.
“We are operating on an emergency footing in all provinces given the intensity of the outbreak and extent of virus spread. The polio program has been implementing a comprehensive roadmap to interrupt virus transmission, beginning with an extensive, large-scale polio vaccination campaign from Sept. 9,” she said. ■