Pakistan reports 3rd wild poliovirus case, 8th case worldwide in 2023

Pakistan officials reported an additional wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case this week in a 18-months-old girl from from Ghaura Baka Khel union council of Bannu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who had onset of paralysis on September 13.

This is the third WPV1 case reported in Pakistan this year and the eighth total worldwide (5 in Afghanistan- all from Nangarhar province).

Federal Minister for Health Dr Nadeem Jan said all three children paralyzed by poliovirus this year belong to the same UC in Bannu. “We are actively working together with UN partner agencies to improve overall healthcare in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that is polio endemic. We are aggressively working to build immunity, improve nutritional standards and hygiene and sanitation.”

The minister further said that a nationwide polio vaccination campaign is currently underway, parents and caregivers must realize the threat of polio and make sure that their children are vaccinated and protected from this incurable disease.

Federal Health Secretary also urged parents to open their doors for vaccinators and welcome the volunteers who are bringing life-saving vaccine to their doorstep. “As a nation, we must band together and defeat this menace so that we can give our children a polio-free future,” he said.

Last year, Pakistan reported 20 WPV1 cases in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (17 of them in North Waziristan, two children in Lakki Marwat and one child in South Waziristan).