QUETTA: A fresh case of polio was found in Balochistan's Killa Abdullah district on Thursday after a period of two-and-a-half years.

According to United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) sources, the crippling virus was found in a 18-month-old girl in union council Maizai area of district Killa Abdullah.

"Doctors have confirmed [the] polio virus", the sources said. The latest case of polio virus was reported after two-and-a-half years in Balochistan.

"The girl's family had lived in Karachi for four years", Unicef sources said, adding that the family had arrived in Balochstan's Killa Abdullah district this year. With the emergence of the new case, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year have reached to 102.

Recovery of polio virus in Quetta during June this year prompted the Balochistan government to launch an emergency anti polio campaign in polio-risk districts.

In 2011, 22 polio cases were reported from Killa Abdullah out of total 73 from all-over Balochistan. "That was [the] worst year for Balochistan", Rehmat Baloch, provincial health minister, told Dawn.

He, however, said that his department was determined to eradicate the virus from the province.

The provincial government and Unicef had made hectic efforts to eradicate the virus from the province but with the emergence of this new case, all efforts have been overshadowed.

Opinion

Editorial

A year later
Updated 08 Feb, 2025

A year later

A war of egos has been fought between a handful of individuals at the cost of the well-being of millions of ordinary Pakistanis.
Wheat decision
08 Feb, 2025

Wheat decision

THE federal decision to stop setting the minimum support price for wheat and cease the staple’s procurement...
Dhanmondi attack
08 Feb, 2025

Dhanmondi attack

HISTORY has shown that unless states deliver development and equal rights to all, disenfranchised people can target...
Depopulating Gaza
Updated 07 Feb, 2025

Depopulating Gaza

The least feasible "solution" is the Trumpian plan for Gaza’s ethnic cleansing and occupation, which is a non-starter.
‘Pause’ in US aid
07 Feb, 2025

‘Pause’ in US aid

THE impact of the Trump administration’s decision to ‘pause’ all US foreign aid programmes, especially those...
Mobilising opposition
07 Feb, 2025

Mobilising opposition

POLITICS makes strange bedfellows. There has not, for quite some time, been a guest list as intriguing as the one...