North Waziristan reports 12th wild polio case: NIH

Shazia Mehboob

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) on Thursday confirmed that a 21-month-old boy is paralyzed by wild polio in what is the 12th case in Pakistan this year.

According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Health Services, the child had onset of paralysis on June 18 and belongs to Mir Ali (UC-2) whilst all 12 children belong to North Waziristan.   He said that the southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, namely North and South Waziristan, D I Khan, Bannu, Tank, and Lakki Marwat, are at the highest risk of wild poliovirus transmission.

Bannu also reported two positive environmental samples between April and May this year, confirming that ongoing wild poliovirus transmission is not limited to North Waziristan.

Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel said the Pakistan Polio Program has carried out repeated immunization campaigns in Southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since the first child was reported with polio-induced paralysis and continues to strive to ensure that the virus does not spread.

“Even though these cases are happening in the same part of the country, parents and caregivers around Pakistan must remain extremely vigilant and give their children repeated doses of the polio vaccine,” said Federal Health Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam Irfan.

According to preliminary investigations, the child has been paralyzed in the right leg.   This year, 13 cases have been reported in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the only two polio-endemic countries with active polio cases in the world.