Polio case reported in Pak after 15 months; hope of a polio-free nation gets dented

Two other WPV1 cases have been reported this year, one each in Afghanistan and Malawi.Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world with circulating wild poliovirus, together with Afghanistan.

Pakistan on Friday reported a poliovirus case after a break of 15 months, denting its hope of achieving the tag of a polio-free nation.

The type-1 wild poliovirus (WPV1) was confirmed in a 15-month old child from North Waziristan tribal district on Friday by the Pakistan National polio laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) here, according to an official statement.

“This is of course a tragedy for the child and his family and it is also very unfortunate both for Pakistan and polio eradication efforts all over the world. We are disappointed but not deterred,” health secretary Aamir Ashraf said.

The Pakistan polio laboratory also confirmed the detection of a positive environmental sample collected on April 5 from Bannu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

The health secretary said that the National and Provincial Polio Emergency Operations Centres deployed teams to conduct a full investigation of the recent case, while emergency immunisation campaigns were underway to prevent further spread of the wild poliovirus in Pakistan.

Substantial progress has been made recently in combating polio in Pakistan despite the challenges. The country had reported one case last year with onset on January 27 in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan.

The latest detection in Pakistan is the third case of wild polio to be recorded globally in 2022.

Wild poliovirus types 2 and 3 have been eradicated globally, while WPV1 cases are at a historic low. Two other WPV1 cases have been reported this year, one each in Afghanistan and Malawi.

Pakistan remains one of only two countries in the world with circulating wild poliovirus, together with Afghanistan.