QUETTA: The fifth polio case of the year was reported from Quetta in Balochistan on Saturday. The two-year-old child who was affected developed paralysis onset in his legs on April 29, 2024.
His condition deteriorated gradually, with weakness extending to his arms, and he tragically succumbed in a hospital in Karachi a few weeks later.
As per the Regional Reference Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, samples collected from him, his brother, and cousin residing in the same household confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).
The virus extracted from the samples is part of the imported YB3A cluster of WPV1. Coordinator to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Bharath, stated, “This case serves as a somber reminder that until we eliminate the poliovirus entirely, no child is immune from this dreadful disease.”
Mukhtar added that four of the five cases reported this year have been from Balochistan and the government is focusing its efforts on closing the outbreak and enhancing polio vaccine and routine vaccination coverage rates in the province to ensure strengthened immunity for children.
More than 50 environmental samples have tested positive for poliovirus this year in Balochistan, including 21 from Quetta.
Captain (Retd) Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, said that a detailed case investigation is being conducted to identify the origins of the virus that caused the infection and identify populations that may not have received the polio vaccine.
He added that the Polio Programme will continue to implement polio campaigns and other strategies to increase vaccination rates.
This is the fifth polio case reported from Pakistan in 2024 and the first from Quetta in four years. Last year, six polio cases were reported in the country.
