August 09, 2008	Saturday	Sha’aban 6, 1429

PESHAWAR, Aug 8: Two polio cases, one in Peshawar and the other in Islamabad, have been detected, bringing the number of cases found in the country this year to 25.

According to health officials, 18-month-old Wasihullah of Peshawar and five-month-old Mohammad of Islamabad have tested positive for poliomyelitis at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.

They said the case diagnosed in Peshawar was of P3 and in Islamabad of P1, a highly virulent strain. There was an immediate need for a vaccination campaign in Islamabad to stop new afflictions, they said.

Other three cases detected in the NWFP this year are of P3 which is not a dangerous strain.

According to the officials, 11 polio cases were found this year in Sindh, six in NWFP, two in Fata, two in Punjab, three in Balochistan and one in Islamabad Federal Territory.

Both the new cases were detected at the stage of onset of paralysis in July, the officials said, adding that a detailed epidemiological investigation had been carried out and a genomic sequencing was under process.

Officials of the World Health Organisation told Dawn that 896 polio cases had been reported worldwide till Aug 1, compared to 1,315 recorded globally during the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan, they said, with 25 cases was among the top four endemic countries. The other three are India with 331 cases, Nigeria with 483 and Afghanistan with 13.