Islamabad [Pakistan], February 4 : As many as 28 environmental samples collected from Pakistan's 19 districts in January and two collected from Quetta and Khuzdar in December have tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), Dawn reported.
As per an official of the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH), the virus was found in four sewage samples each from Quetta and Karachi East, two samples each from Chaman, Peshawar, Karachi South and Karachi Keamari, and one each from Karachi Korangi, Karachi Central, Karachi Malir, Jamshoro, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Pishin, Kech, Nasirabad, DG Khan, Rawalpindi and Lahore collected between January 2 and January 16.
"The detections have brought the number of positive environmental samples reported in 2024 to 28 and 126 in 2023. All detected positive samples contain the imported virus cluster, YB3A," he said.
Pakistan's Federal Minister for Health, Nadeem Jan, stated that the imported virus cluster was found in 120 of the 126 positive sewage samples and in three human cases last year.
Federal Secretary for Health Iftikhar Ali Shallwani said Pakistan is committed to wiping the virus out and is aiming to disrupt its transmission by the end of this year.
"Last year, we held several mass vaccination campaigns and utilised innovative strategies to reach children, from transit vaccination to nomadic vaccination and integrated health camps. These efforts will continue at full pace this year as well to ensure that all children are protected," he said.
"Protecting children from this paralytic disease is our top priority and we will continue our all-out efforts to end polio in Pakistan," the secretary said, according to Dawn.
The coordinator for the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, Shahzad Baig, said multiple vaccination campaigns were held last year to boost children's immunity, adding that a nationwide campaign was conducted from January 8 to 14 and several more are planned in all districts where the virus has been detected.
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