ISLAMABAD: Nine sewage samples collected from six districts were found positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

According to the Regio­nal Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), WPV1 was found in two sewage samples taken from Quetta, two from Chaman, two from Peshawar and one each from Karachi South, Karachi Korangi and Mastung in Balochistan.

The samples were collected between Feb 21 and 27 and the number of total positive environmental samples in 2024 has so far reached 65.

All six districts of detection were covered during the two nationwide polio vac­­cination campaigns con­­ducted in January and February in which over 40 million children were vaccinated, while another cam­­paign is planned in April.

“All positive environmental samples contain the YB3A virus cluster, which disappeared from Pakistan in 2021 and was reintroduced through cross-border transmission in January 2023. This virus has been detected in more than 150 sewage samples and five cases since 2023 in more than 20 districts,” an official of the health ministry said.

Federal Secretary for Health Iftikhar Ali Shallwani has said in a statement that poliovirus was a persistent threat to children everywhere.

“Children with low immunity due to malnutrition, underlying diseases or unvaccinated or under-vaccinated for childhood diseases and polio are at particular risk of contracting polio since they would not be able to fight off a polio infection,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2024