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ISLAMABAD: Poliovirus has been found in samples taken from two more districts of the country — Dera Ismail Khan and Bahawalpur — taking the number of infected districts to 42. Both areas had been free from the virus over the past few years.
Moreover, 15 environmental samples have been found positive, taking the tally of positive samples this year to 168.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), 15 new detections of the Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) have been confirmed.
“Last year, there were 126 environmental sample isolation from 28 districts,” an official of the lab said, wishing not to be quoted.
He said the samples found positive were collected from D.I. Khan, Bahawalpur, Mirpur Khas, Karachi South, Karachi East, Karachi Korangi, Lakki Marwat, Peshawar, Usta Muhammad, Chaman, Quetta and Mastung.
Officials blamed poor performance of a partner-led programme over the last two seasons — 2022-23 and 2023-24 — resulting in a wide immunity gap favouring the current spread of the virus.
According to Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, samples contained the virus that was genetically linked to the imported YB3A genetic cluster, like all other detections in the country this year.
Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2024
