ISLAMABAD: While polio virus was limited to 33 districts of Pakistan till last month, wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was found in sewage samples from Hub on Wednesday. The district had hitherto remained free from the virus.

Moreover, three samples taken from already infected districts tested positive, taking the tally for the current year to 116.

A spokesperson for the Pakistan Polio Programme said on Tuesday four samples had tested positive for the virus, meaning that eight samples were detected in two days.

According to the Regional Reference Lab for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), sewage samples collected from Karachi South, Karachi Central, Jamshoro and Hub contained poliovirus, which was genetically linked to the imported YB3A genetic cluster of WPV1.

“The virus has been found in sewage samples of 34 districts so far this year. All positive samples and the two human cases reported in 2024 contain the YB3A cluster, which had disappeared from Pakistan in 2021, but remained in circulation in Afghanistan and was reintroduced through cross-border transmission last year,” an official of the health ministry said.

“The Pakistan Polio Programme conducted four polio vaccination campaigns, including two nationwide drives, with the oral polio vaccine in January and February.

The campaign reached over 43 million children under the age of five years.

“The next campaign is planned for the first week of June, ahead of the high travel season of Eid,” the official said.

“Polio is a devastating, incurable disease. The Polio Programme urges all parents and caregivers to ensure that their children are vaccinated at every opportunity and have completed all routine vaccinations to ensure that they are protected from 12 preventable diseases.”

Polio is a highly infectious disease that mainly affects children under the age of five years. Vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from it.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2024