Poliovirus has reached 2 new districts while another 26 environmental samples have tested positive for the crippling disease virus.
Among the environmental samples obtained from 20 districts, including Nushki district of Balochistan and Mianwali district of Punjab, these areas were not affected by the polio virus.
The presence of the deadly virus has come to light at a time when an anti-polio campaign is underway across the country to immunize more than 4.5 crore children.
After these positive samples, the total number of such districts has increased to more than 70, where the presence of the virus has been confirmed.
The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Control in Islamabad has confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type (1) in sewage samples collected from 26 locations in 20 districts.
The federal capital Islamabad, the largest city of Sindh, Karachi East, Korangi, Central and South districts, besides Hyderabad, Qamber, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, as well as Rawalpindi, Lahore, Attock and Mianwali in Punjab and Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. , Lakki Marwat, Peshawar, included, poliovirus has also been confirmed in environmental samples obtained from the districts of Pashin, Nushki, Quetta, and Zhob of Balochistan.
A lab official said that the virus was reported for the first time in environmental samples from Nushki and Mianwali, before which 18 other districts had confirmed the virus.
It added that these areas have been classified as affected by wild poliovirus type (1), highlighting the ongoing threat to the health and well-being of children across the country.
In response to a question, the official explained that if poliovirus is found in sewage samples, it is called positive, while a child paralyzed by the virus is called a positive case.
He said that after identifying the samples, a polio campaign is organized immediately to eliminate the virus from the area.
He said that due to the movement of people, a case of paralysis of a child can be reported from any city.
The presence of the virus in the sewage samples suggests that local children have weakened immunity, and may be infected with the disease, the official said.
It should be noted that the polio virus has become uncontrollable in Pakistan because the cases are being reported frequently, after a 5-year-old girl tested positive for the virus on October 31, the number of reported cases has reached 43 so far this year.
