Pakistan detects first polio case in 15 months: Report
Apr 23, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], April 23 : Pakistan detected the country's first case of polio after over a year, with the paralysis of a 15-month-old boy in the country's North Waziristan area, according to reports citing authorities.
Health officials in a series of Tweets announced the discovery of the wild polio case on Friday, saying a 15-month-old boy had been paralysed by the virus in the northwestern district of North Waziristan.
"Deeply saddened to share that a 15-month-old boy has been paralyzed in North Waziristan, Southern KP, as #Pakistan confirms a wild #poliovirus case after nearly 15 months," Dr Shahzad Baig, a coordinator with the National Emergency Operations Centre for Pakistan's polio eradication programme said in a Tweet.
The country detected the polio case last year, as per the authorities.
"The Pakistan Polio Programme traces and hunts down the virus wherever it may be harbouring. This case is both tragic, while at the same time, not entirely unexpected, after positive virus samples appeared in the environment in South KP late last year," he said further.
Pakistan is one of two countries, alongside neighbouring Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, although case numbers have dropped drastically in recent years.
Pakistan remains under a polio-linked travel restriction imposed by the World Health Organisation. Residents (and visitors for more than 4 weeks) from infected areas should receive an additional dose of OPV or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) within 4 weeks to 12 months of travel.
