PESHAWAR, July 21: A second case of polio has been found in Swat within one week, raising to five the number of victims of the deadly disease detected in the NWFP this year.
An official said that eight-month-old Wajeeha Bibi tested positive for polio on Monday. She is from the Hazara union council in Swat’s Kabal tehsil where children have not been immunised against polio.
On July 15, seven-month-old Tanzeela Bibi of the same area tested positive for polio.
Wajeeha, a cousin of Tanzeela, was not administered a single dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV). The official said the virus detected in both the children was P1, a dangerous form of the disease.
Of the 365,000 children aged under five in Swat valley, about 110,000 did not get polio drops during the last immunisation campaign because their areas are controlled by the Taliban who are against vaccination.
According to the official, on May 21 this year the government signed an agreement with the Taliban under which the latter were bound to support the polio campaign in the entire district. The Taliban did not honour the agreement and did not allow vaccination teams to go to a number of areas.
“There was only partial immunisation in 41 of the 65 union councils in Swat, while nine UCs were not covered at all,” the official said, adding that there was no security for vaccinators in the areas controlled by the Taliban.
“We fear an outbreak of polio because more than 100,000 children have not been vaccinated for one year,” he added.
