Pakistan: Polio and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever updates
Polio
A fifth case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) has been reported in Pakistan in 2024, the latest being in a two-year-old child from Quetta, Balochistan.
The child developed onset of paralysis on April 29 in his legs. He became progressively ill with weakness spreading to his arms, and unfortunately passed away in a hospital in Karachi a few weeks later.
According to the Regional Reference Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, samples taken from him, his brother and cousin who live in the same house confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). The virus isolated from the samples belongs to the imported YB3A cluster of WPV1.
The Coordinator to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Dr Malik Mukhtar Bharath said four of the five cases reported this year have been from Balochistan and the government is focusing its efforts on closing the outbreak and enhancing polio vaccine and routine vaccination coverage rates in the province to ensure strengthened immunity for children.
More than 50 environmental samples have tested positive for poliovirus this year in Balochistan, including 21 from Quetta alone.
This is the fifth polio case reported from Pakistan in 2024 and the first from Quetta in four years. Last year, six polio cases were reported in the country.
In addition to the five cases in Pakistan, four cases have been reported in Afghanistan year to date.
More than 16.5 million children under the age of five will be vaccinated in a crucial polio campaign beginning on June 3 in 66 districts, ahead of the high-travel season of Eid-ul-Adha.
The five-day campaign will be implemented in 36 districts in full and partially in 30 districts, including Islamabad, 20 districts of Balochistan, 23 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 16 districts of Sindh and six districts of Punjab.
In a related story, at least five people, including two policemen, were injured in a terrorist attack on a polio vaccination team in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police officials said.
According to the police officials, the incident happened on Saturday in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan district of the province when unknown attackers opened fire indiscriminately on the polio team, injuring two policemen and other staff of the polio team.
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever
Spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health in Pakistan, Sharafat Zaman Amarkhil, said in the first five months of this year, 203 people across the country have been infected with Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), and six people have died from it.
In all of last year, Pakistan saw nearly 1240 positive cases, with around 100 deaths.
And health officials warn the numbers could go up ahead of Eid Al-Adha.
A huge number of sacrificial animals are being brought to markets in almost all major cities ahead of Eid Al-Adha.
The mass scale movements of the sacrificial animals may serve as a source of propagation for ticks infested with CCHF thereby increasing the risk of disease transmission. A big chunk of the animals may be taken to the markets without proper handling and surveillance.
Experts believe that any of the sacrificial animals being brought to the region for sale may carry ticks and health officials should plan to carry out necessary preventive activities to avoid a possible outbreak of the deadly infection.
Experts say that individuals must take necessary preventive measures while taking sacrificial animals home. The animals having any type of ticks on their skin, should be given a thorough bath with water carrying DEET or Potassium Permanganate.
People should reduce tick infestation on cows, sheep and goats with the help of insecticides. Acaricides, the pesticides that kill ticks and mites may be useful on domestic animals if used 10-14 days prior to slaughter or to the export of animals and insecticidal sprays must be ensured in the cattle markets, slaughter houses, dairy, Gawala colonies, sacrificial animals’ sale yards and other animal gathering places. Also insect repellents containing DEET are effective in protecting against ticks.
People should wear protective clothing when working with livestock and to take measures for early and correct removal of ticks. People should ensure examination of diseased animals from veterinary doctors so that transmission of CCHF to human beings could be avoided.
CCHF was first diagnosed in a human in 1976 and has bee considered endemic for decades.