Global polio: WPV-1 cases rise to 50 in 2024
Pakistan reported 4 additional cases, while Afghanistan reports 3 new cases
Pakistan
The total number of wild poliovirus cases (WPV-1) in Pakistan has risen to 28 with the addition of four confirmed cases in recent days.
On October 1, health officials reported confirmed cases in two children from Karachi East and Sujawal districts of Sindh province.
These are the first cases of the year from Karachi East and Sujawal where environmental samples have shown the presence of poliovirus in recent months, indicating that it is circulating in communities and posing a terrible risk to the wellbeing of children.
Yesterday, officials report a female child from Zhob district of Balochistan and a male child from Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been affected, taking the number of total cases in 2024 to 28.
This is the second case from Zhob, where a child was affected by polio earlier in July, and the first case from Tank. The virus has been found in sewage samples from both districts previously, indicating continued polio transmission and risk to children’s health.
Pakistan had performed a large-scale vaccination campaign that began on September 9, where nearly 33 million children under the age of five across 116 districts were vaccinated.
Afghanistan
During the past week, officials in Afghanistan reported three WPV1 cases from Kandahar and Hilmand provinces.
To date, Afghanistan has reported 22 confirmed wild poliovirus cases.