Pakistan reports first polio case of 2024

Pakistan s first polio case of the year 2024 has been reported from Balochistan’s Dera Bugti.

According to a spokesman for the National Ministry for Health, the poliovirus was found in a two-and-a-half-year-old child from Dera Bugti.

The samples from the child were collected on February 22 and tested at the National Institute of Health

The polio-affected child belonged to Union Council No. 3 UC of Sui, Dera Bugti. The polio virus in the child is genetically related to Quetta.

“The affected child had received polio vaccination seven times in the routine immunization campaigns,” the sources said.

They added that the polio virus was detected in 46 sewage samples across the country this year. A special polio campaign in nine districts of Balochistan would start on March 24.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has reported six polio cases in 2023.