ISLAMABAD: Pakis­tan has reported another case of poliovirus from Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the total number of cases so far this year to three, health officials have confirmed.

The victim, an 18-month-old girl, is the third case reported this year from Bannu, according to an official of Pakistan National Polio Labora­tory at the National Institute of Health.

Pakistan and Afghanis­tan are the only countries where the polio virus rem­ains endemic. According to officials, the transmission of wild poliovirus has been restricted to seven districts in the south of KP, namely Tank, Bannu, North Waziristan, South Waziristan Upper, South Waziristan Lower, DI Khan and Lakki Marwat.

In a report released in August, the World Health Organisation said that since January 2021, all reported cases were from the seven polio-endemic districts in southern KP.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2023