Balochistan reports a new polio case amid Covid-19 outbreak
Dec 30, 2020
Balochistan [Pakistan], December 30 : Balochistan reported a new case of polio on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the province to 26, amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Citing Pakistan's health officials, SAMAA TV reported that the victim was a 14-month-old girl origin from Union Council Karez Noth in Mastung and her samples were sent to Islamabad for testing on December 5.
The girl had not received the polio vaccine as her family refused polio drops during campaigns.
Balochistan has the highest number of polio cases in Pakistan.
There are 22 polio cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, and 14 in Punjab. However, Islamabad, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and Occupied Gilgit-Baltistan have not reported any cases so far.
This year, a total of 84 cases of the wild poliovirus have been recorded in Pakistan. There are also 83 cases of vaccine-derived polio-also known as cVDPV2 polio, SAMAA TV reported.
The case comes at a time when the country is reeling under the second wave of coronavirus.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio cases are being reported. Pakistan remains under a polio-linked travel restriction imposed by the World Health Organisation due to which, since 2014, every person travelling abroad has to carry a polio vaccination certificate.
