Pakistan reports 50th polio case this year

Islamabad: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad has confirmed another case of wild poliovirus (WPV1) from Pakistan.

The lab confirmed a case of polio in a girl from the Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the total number of cases this year to 50.

Genetic sequencing of the virus isolated from the collected samples has shown that it is genetically related to WPV1 detected in the same district in July.

This is the second case of polio from Tank and the 50th case of polio in Pakistan this year.

So far, 24 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 11 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Tank is one of the polio-affected districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has reported two cases this year along with multiple positive environmental samples, indicating that the spread of poliovirus continues to pose a threat to children.