SUKKUR: A new case of poliovirus surfaced in Sardar Ahmed Shar village in Jacobabad district on Thursday when a five-year-old boy with a limp in one leg was diagnosed with having contracted the crippling disease.

A villager Liaqat Ali Shar told journalists that his son Junaid Ali, 5, had been walking normally during the first few years after his birth but later on his right leg started stunting and losing the strength to carry his weight.

He would often fall while walking, he added.

He said that a few days ago he took his son to Dr Abdul Rasheed Memon in Jacobabad who told him the limp was caused by poliovirus and advised immediate treatment to save the boy from permanent disability.

The parent said that he had informed the head of polio programme of his union council, Dr Safiullah Bhutto, about his son’s condition but no polio team had arrived in their village yet to vaccinate other children.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2014