ISLAMABAD: Another polio case has been repor­ted in Khyber Pakhtun­kh­­wa, raising the nationwide tally to 30 so far this year.

According to an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Era­dication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), the lab has confirmed a new case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Torghar district, KP.

“This is the second case reported from Torghar this year. The virus was detec­ted in a 12-month-old boy from Union Council Ghari, Torghar. With this detection, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 30 — 19 from KP, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan,” the official said.

In September, the Pak­istan Polio Programme collected 127 sewage samples from 87 districts across the country throu­­gh its environmental surveillance network. Of these, 81 samples tested negative for poliovirus, while 44 were found positive. Two samples are still being processed in the lab.

Environmental sampling involves testing sewage water for the presence of poliovirus, which helps assess the effectiveness of vaccination campaigns and detect ongoing virus circulation.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2025