ISLAMABAD: The Polio Virology Laboratory at the National Institute of Health confirmed another six polio cases on Thursday, raising the number of cases reported this year to 164.

A 13-month-old girl, of Mera Aka Khel in Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency, has been reported to have contracted the virus.

The second victim is an eight-month-old boy, of Aka Khel, also of Khyber Agency.

Two cases, a 12-month-old boy is from Razmak tehsil in North Waziristan and the other, a seven-month-old girl is from Wana tehsil in South Waziristan.

The fifth victim is 10-month-old boy from Mir Mohammad Goth of Sultanabad in Gadap Town of Karachi.

The sixth is a 22-month-old girl of Raja Tanveer Colony in Orangi Town, Karachi.

“The four children from Fata were not vaccinated because of a ban imposed by the Taliban in June 2012. But the parents of both children from Karachi refused to get their children vaccinated,” said an official of the Prime Minister’s Monitoring and Coordination Cell for Polio.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014