GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th Feb. According to Dawn, two environmental samples taken in December from Quetta and Khuzdar and up to 28 environmental samples taken in January from Pakistan’s 19 districts tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).
The virus was discovered in four sewage samples from Quetta and Karachi East, two samples from Chaman, Peshawar, Karachi South, and Karachi Keamari, and one sample from each of Karachi Korangi, Karachi Central, Karachi Malir, Jamshoro, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Pishin, Kech, Nasirabad, DG Khan, Rawalpindi, and Lahore that were collected between January 2 and January 16. One sample was from each of these locations.
“Thanks to the detections, there were 28 positive environmental sample reports in 2024 compared to 126 in 2023. “YB3A, the imported virus cluster, is present in all detected positive samples,” he stated.
According to Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Health, Nadeem Jan, the imported virus cluster was discovered in three human cases and 120 of the 126 positive sewage samples from the previous year.
By the end of this year, Pakistan is determined to stop the virus’s spread, according to Federal Secretary for Health Iftikhar Ali Shallwani.
“We conducted multiple mass vaccination campaigns and employed creative approaches, such as integrated health camps, transit vaccination, and nomadic vaccination, to reach children last year. In order to guarantee the safety of every child, these initiatives will carry on full steam this year as well,” he declared.
According to Dawn, the secretary declared, “We will continue our all-out efforts to end polio in Pakistan and protect children from this paralytic disease.”
Shahzad Baig, the coordinator for the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, stated that several vaccination campaigns were carried out to increase children’s immunity last year. He also mentioned that a nationwide campaign was carried out from January 8 to January 14 and that numerous additional campaigns are scheduled in all districts where the virus has been found.
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