Polio crisis deepens as new case takes Pakistan’s total to 12

ISLAMABAD: A day after two more children were found affected by the poliovirus in Balochistan, a six-year-old boy in the Chakwal district of Punjab has been paralysed by the Wild Poliovirus 1, raising the total polio cases to 12 in Pakistan this year, officials said on Saturday.

“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 the stool specimen from a 75-month-old male child from District Chakwal of Punjab province. The child had onset of paralysis on July 16, 2024,” an official in the national Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) told The News.

This is the first polio case from District Chakwal and the Punjab province, and the 12th case in Pakistan this year (nine cases reported from Balochistan province, two from Sindh province, and one from Punjab province), the official said, adding that the genetic sequencing of the case is in process.

Earlier on Saturday, national PEI officials had confirmed the detection of two new cases from the Jhal Magsi and Killa Abdullah districts in Balochistan, raising the total polio cases in Balochistan to nine.

The National Institute of Health’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio confirmed the cases from union council Patri in Jhal Magsi and union council Maizai in Killa Abdullah. A three-year-old child from Jhal Magsi and a 1.5-year-old child from Killa Abdullah have been paralysed by the virus.

The Jhal Magsi case, showing symptoms on July 5, is linked to a virus strain found in Usta Muhammad. The Killa Abdullah case, symptomatic since June 10, is under genetic analysis, officials in the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) of Pakistan said.

Epidemiologists say the polio programme in Pakistan has encountered significant hurdles, including local protests, security issues, and vaccine hesitancy. These factors have disrupted vaccination campaigns, particularly in Balochistan, where nine of this year’s cases have emerged from six districts.

On the other hand, WPV1 has been found again in the environmental samples of four previously infected districts, including Islamabad, officials said, adding that the total count of polio-infected districts for the year 2024 is now 58.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of WPV1 from the four previously infected districts, including Islamabad, Karachi East, Karachi Keamari, and Multan in Punjab,” an official of the PEI said.

In Karachi, the environmental sample was collected on July 18, 2024, from the ‘Chakora Nala’ environmental sample collection site, which is the 24th positive sample from District Karachi East this year. The isolated virus is classified as YB3A4A + YB3A4B cluster, which are linked to the virus found in Pishin in Balochistan and Hyderabad in Sindh.

In Karachi Korangi, the environmental sample was collected on July 18, 2024, from the Korangi Nala environmental sample collection site, which is the 7th positive sample from District Karachi Korangi this year. The isolated virus is classified as the YB3A4B cluster and is 99.89 percent genetically linked to the virus detected in an environmental sample in the same district on June 13, 2024.

The environmental sample in Islamabad was collected on July 20, 2024, from the Jhangi Syedan environmental sample collection site, which is the 5th positive sample from District Islamabad this year. The isolated virus is classified as the YB3A4A cluster and is 99.77 percent genetically linked to the virus detected in an environmental sample in the same district on June 3, 2024.

Similarly, in Multan, the environmental sample was collected on July 9, 2024, from the Ali Town environmental sample collection site, which is the 3rd positive sample from District Multan this year. The isolated virus is classified as the YB3A-4A cluster and is 99.4 percent genetically linked to the polio case in Killa Abdullah.