ISLAMABAD, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan reported another polio case, increasing the overall tally to 41 in 2024, an official from the health ministry said on Saturday.
An official from the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed the detection of type 1 wild poliovirus in a child from Loralai district of the country's southwest Balochistan province.
So far, 21 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from southern Sindh province, six from northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from eastern Punjab and federal capital Islamabad, according to the official.
"Balochistan is facing an intense transmission of wild poliovirus type 1 this year. While this is the first case from Loralai of the year, four consecutive sewage samples have tested positive from the district since June, indicating that the virus is circulating there," the NIH official said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is set to launch a nationwide vaccination campaign from Oct. 28 to vaccinate more than 45 million children in various districts, according to the prime minister's focal person for polio eradication. ■
