A 16-month-old girl from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Lakki Marwat district has contracted the polio virus, healthcare officials confirmed on Thursday.

The health officials have marked this as the ninth case of 2018. It was reported from Marmundu Azam area of District Lakki Marwat.

According to an official of the Polio Emergency Operation Centre, samples were collected from the infant girl in December 2018, therefore the case has been added to the last year's tally.

He said that the symptoms of polio were observed in the child on December 10 last year. The health officials sent her samples to the National Institute of Health immediately for confirmation.

Editorial: Polio-free Pakistan?

The official said that the institute today confirmed in its report that the girl carries the polio virus.