ISLAMABAD: An environmental sample collected from Balochistan’s Lasbela district has tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

The virus was found in a sewage sample collected from Lasbela, an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) said.

Federal Health Minister Dr Nadeem Jan said that as long as this virus survives, children on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, and the world over, remain at risk. “This makes it imperative for Pakistan and Afghanistan to work together for its eradication.”

Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus. It mainly affects children under the age of five years. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2024