New polio case in Bannu confirmed

Latest victim is a 15-month-old male child from the Pashtoon tribe, belonging to the Wazir caste

By M Waqar Bhatti
April 26, 2025
Polio workers give polio vaccine drops to a child as police stand guard during a vaccination campaign in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.— Reuters/File
Polio workers give polio vaccine drops to a child as police stand guard during a vaccination campaign in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.— Reuters/File

ISLAMABAD: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad has confirmed a new case of Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) from District Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), raising Pakistan’s total tally of polio cases in 2025 to eight.

According to officials from the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, the latest victim is a 15-month-old male child from the Pashtoon tribe, belonging to the Wazir caste. He is a resident of Union Council Sain Tanga in Tehsil SD Wazir, District Bannu. This is the third polio case reported from KP this year, indicating persistent transmission of the virus in high-risk areas despite intensified eradication efforts.

“Genetic sequencing of the virus is underway, but initial results indicate continued circulation in southern KP, a region that has consistently remained a reservoir for the poliovirus,” an official with the Programme told The News on condition of anonymity.