KARACHI, June 14: Despite several concerted public health campaigns, one more polio case has been detected in Sindh, taking the total number of such cases to 12 this year.

Executive District Officer (Health) for Sanghar Dr Mushtaq Ahmed Memon said on Saturday that he had been informed that the National Institute of Health in Islamabad had verified that a nine-year-old boy living in Kamil Hingoro union council in Sanghar was infected with the polio virus.

He said the boy, who had been immunised against the disease thrice in the past five years and had had 10 booster doses of polio vaccine administered to him, underwent the onset of the disease, with fever and temporary limb paralysis on May 12, following which samples were sent for examination. According to a breakdown, Pakistan, with 12 cases of polio reported from all over the country, including 10 from Sindh, stood fourth in the world, after India, Nigeria and Angola. So far, 13 countries have reported the occurrence of 558 polio cases in 2008.

Dr Memon said the boy was living with his family in a desert area in Sanghar district and the case was closely related to the case that was confirmed in Ghotki last year.

Sindh now has nine polio-affected districts in the first half of 2008 against six districts affected during the entire 2007.

The emergence of cases ahead of the peak virus transmission season in the province was an indicator of a prolonged weak immunisation operation in some districts, said a source privy to the vaccination activity.