Pakistan reports another poliovirus case, yearly tally rises to 24

admin — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 13:22:00 +0000

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child in a school, in Karachi, Pakistan, on September 1, 2025
| Photo Credit: AP

One more poliovirus case was reported in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday (September 1, 2025), taking the total number of cases in the country this year to 24, the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed.

According to the NIH, the latest case was detected in a 20-month-old in Tank district, taking the province’s tally to 16.

Last week, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government launched a polio immunisation campaign, with emphasis on the southern region of the province, where polio teams face the highest resistance.

The latest case has taken the total cases recorded in 2025 to 24, according to NIH — including 16 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, six from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan.

“A comprehensive strategic roadmap for polio eradication in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been developed and finalised,” said the NIH.

“The plan incorporates micro-planning innovations, gap analyses, and targeted strategies and interventions to address persistent challenges,” the institute further added.

To combat the growing cases, a campaign will be carried out in the south of the province, set to run from September 15 to 18, as per the NIH.

The three-day drive aims to target Bannu, Bajaur, and seven districts of the Dera Ismail Khan division, said a team of the immunisation campaign last week.

In its statement, the NIH appealed to parents to cooperate with polio teams and complete their child’s immunisation course.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic.

Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have impacted the pace of progress.

Published – September 01, 2025 06:52 pm IST

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Four new polio cases reported in Pakistan, tally rises to 37 this year

admin — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 08:07:29 +0000

A police officer stands guard as a health worker, right, administers a polio vaccine to a child in a neighbourhood of Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Pakistan reported another four cases of polio virus taking the national tally to 37 this year, a media report said on Saturday (October 19, 2024).

The regional reference laboratory for polio eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, on Friday, confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type-1 (WPV 1) in three children from Balochistan and one child from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn newspaper reported.

The children affected by the wild poliovirus include a girl from Pishin, two boys from Chaman and Noshki in Balochistan, and a girl from Lakki Marwat district of KP, according to an official of the regional reference laboratory for polio eradication.

Of the 37 cases detected from across Pakistan so far this year, the official said, 20 have been reported from Balochistan, 10 from Sindh, five from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

“Genetic sequencing of the cases is underway,” he disclosed.

“These were the first polio cases from Noshki and Lakki Marwat this year,” he said, adding that both Chaman and Pishin had reported one poliovirus case each earlier as well.

Officials claimed that the fight against poliovirus in Balochistan and southern KP suffered throughout 2023 and early 2024, as immunisation campaigns were either staggered or postponed due to localised protests, insecurity and community boycotts, leaving a cohort of missed children who could sustain virus transmission.

Noshki is located on the border with Afghanistan and borders Quetta and Mastung districts where environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1 in recent months, indicating virus circulation, while Lakki Marwat has also reported multiple positive environmental samples recently.

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign will be launched on October 28 to vaccinate more than 45 million children under the age of five against paralytic polio, according to Dawn.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation.

Published – October 19, 2024 01:37 pm IST

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Pakistan reports another poliovirus case, yearly tally rises to 24

Four new polio cases reported in Pakistan, tally rises to 37 this year