Poliovirus found in two sewage samples from Quetta
ISLAMABAD: Wild poliovirus has been found in the environmental samples of two sites in Quetta.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in two environmental (sewage) samples collected from District Quetta in November 2023,” an official of the Polio Eradication Initiative said on Wednesday.
Giving details, the official said first environmental sample was collected on November 27 from the “Surpul” environmental sample collection site, which is the 6th positive sample from District Quetta this year.
The previous five positive samples were collected on October 03, November 06 and November 13, and November 20, he said and added that isolated virus was classified as YB3A cluster and 99.22 percent genetically linked to the virus detected in an environmental sample in Karachi East Gadap on September 26.
The second environmental sample was collected on November 27 from the “Jatak Killi and Takhthani “environmental sample collection site, which is the 7th positive sample from District Quetta this year.
These new detections take the tally of positive environmental samples in Pakistan in 2023 to 92. Moreover, the number of human Polio cases in Pakistan in 2023 is six.
