Health

Polio virus detected in sewage samples of 14 districts across country

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Staff Reporter

KARACHI: Polio virus was found in sewerage lines of 14 districts across all four provinces of Pakistan, as confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication located in the National Institute of Health Pakistan (NIH).

Wild Poliovirus Type 1 has been found in environmental samples collected from sewage lines, as confirmed by the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio from February 10 to 18.

In terms of specific geographical locations areas that have positive sewage sample includes Sindh: Karachi East and South districts had polio-positive sewage; Balochistan included seven districts with polio-positive sewage, including Quetta, Gwadar, and Khuzdar; Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: three districts, namely Abbottabad, Bannu, and Tank had polio-positive sewage, whereas, in Punjab: Lahore and Sargodha districts had polio-positive sewage.

This development comes as Pakistan has already reported six polio cases this year, with four cases from Sindh, one from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one from Punjab. I

n contrast, 30 districts were found to be free from polio virus. Last year, Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases, with 27 from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 23 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Staff Reporter

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