Poliovirus detected in Gujranwala

ISLAMABAD: The regional reference laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad has confirmed the spread of Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) to a new district, Gujranwala, alongside six other previously affected districts, raising the total number of infected districts in 2024 to 47.

In response, authorities have announced a nationwide polio vaccination drive targeting over 9.5 million children under the age of five from July 1 to July 7, 2024.

Officials from the national polio eradication initiative reported that environmental samples collected on June 10, 2024, from the ‘Rajkot Pumping Station’ in Gujranwala tested positive for WPV1. This marks the first positive sample from District Gujranwala this year. The virus is classified as the YB3A cluster and is 99.89% genetically linked to the virus detected in Sukkur on June 4, 2024.

In Karachi’s Central district, an environmental sample collected on June 6, 2024, from the ‘Haji Mureed Goth’ site returned positive, marking the sixth positive sample from this district in 2024. Similarly, in Karachi’s East district, the ‘Sohrab Goth’ site yielded the 21st positive sample of the year on June 10, 2024, with the virus being 99.66% genetically linked to a sample from April 17, 2024.

Quetta also reported multiple positive samples: the ‘Tawoosabad’ site on June 10 (23rd positive sample), ‘Jatak Killi & Takhthani’ site on June 10 (24th positive sample), and ‘Surpul’ site on June 11 (25th positive sample). These samples are genetically linked to earlier detections in Chaman from late 2023.

In Islamabad, a sample collected from the ‘Jhangi Syedan’ site on June 10 marked the third positive sample from the district this year, linked to a virus found in Lakki Marwat in May 2024. Peshawar’s ‘Hyatabad 1 & 2’ site also reported a positive sample on June 11, marking the 14th case in the district this year.

In Nasirabad, Balochistan, an environmental sample from the ‘Wapda Colony’ site on June 10 marked the fifth positive sample for 2024, linked to a virus from Usta Mohammad in March 2024.

In light of these developments, a house-to-house vaccination campaign will be held in 16 districts of Balochistan, 11 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eight districts of Sindh, five districts of Punjab, and Islamabad. This campaign aims to curb the spread of WPV1 following recent polio cases in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan, and Karachi’s Keamari district. Prime Minister’s Focal Person on Polio, Ayesha Raza Farooq, urged parents to ensure their children receive polio vaccinations during all drives to protect them from this debilitating disease. “Keeping children safe from polio and driving this virus out of the country is the government’s top priority,†she stated.

Muhammad Anwarul Haq, Coordinator for the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, emphasized the urgency of the vaccination campaign in areas where virus transmission poses a significant risk to children’s health.