ISLAMABAD: The country reported its 12th case of polio this year as North Waziristan continues to be a hotbed of the virus.

The victim — a 21-month-old boy who had the onset of paralysis on June 18 — belongs to Union Council 2 of Mir Ali area, a health ministry official said.

The child has been paralysed in the right leg, according to preliminary investigations.

All the 12 cases this year have been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan tribal district, with nine of them detected from Mir Ali alone.

However, other areas also remain vulnerable. “KP’s southern districts, namely North and South Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank and Lakki Marwat, are at the highest risk of wild poliovirus transmission,” the official said.

“Bannu also reported two positive environmental sam­ples between April and May this year, confirming that ongoing poliovirus trans­mission is not limited to North Waziristan,” he said.

KP Special Assistant on Information Muhammad Ali Saif has said the provincial government was committed to eradicating the crippling disease.

In a statement issued on Thursday, he said the provincial government was working to make the province polio-free.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022