ISLAMABAD, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan reported the sixth polio case of this year after the virus was found in a child in southwest Balochistan province, the health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The regional reference laboratory for polio at the country's National Institute of Health has notified that wild poliovirus type 1 was detected in samples collected from an 18-month-old child in Qilla Abdullah district of the province, the statement added.
The affected child developed symptoms of paralysis in his leg on June 3, and the genetic sequencing of the virus isolated from the samples showed that it is genetically linked to the genetic cluster previously found in all positive cases and environmental samples this year.
Quoting the Coordinator to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, the statement said that the government is strengthening routine vaccination rates and health systems in the province.
He added that poliovirus has been found in over 40 districts this year, urging parents and caregivers across the country to remain vigilant and ensure that all children under the age of 5 receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine. ■
