North Waziristan: One more polio case has been confirmed from North Waziristan, the health authorities said on Thursday. This is the 12th polio case reported from Pakistan this year.
The latest case was detected in a 21-month-old boy. He had onset of paralysis on June 18 and belongs to Mir Ali (UC-2) area of North Waziristan, according to Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad.
The southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, namely North and South Waziristan, DI Khan, Bannu, Tank, and Lakki Marwat, have become the hotspot of wild polio virus.
Bannu also reported two positive environmental samples between April and May this year, confirming that ongoing wild poliovirus transmission is not limited to North Waziristan.
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said the Pakistan Polio Programme has had repeated immunization campaigns in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since the first child was reported with polio-induced paralysis and continues to strive to ensure that the virus does not spread.
“Even though these cases are happening in the same part of the country, parents and caregivers around Pakistan must remain extremely vigilant and give their children repeated doses of the polio vaccine,” said Federal Health Secretary Dr. Fakhre Alam Irfan.
According to preliminary investigations, the child has been paralyzed in the right leg.
