Pakistan reports yet another polio case, nationwide tally in 2025 rises to 30

Islamabad, Oct 21 (IANS) A new case of wild poliovirus has been reported in Torghar in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, raising the total number of cases in Pakistan in 2025 to 30, a report has said.

According to a statement from the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Islamabad's National Institutes of Health (NIH), the latest case of poliovirus was detected in a 12-month-old baby from Ghari union council in Torghar, Pakistan's leading daily, Dawn, reported.

The total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 30, including 19 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan, the statement read.

It further stated that the Pakistan Polio Programme collected 127 sewage samples across 87 districts during the month of September. Among these, 81 samples tested negative for poliovirus, while 44 tested positive, and two samples are under process in the laboratory.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where Wild Poliovirus remains endemic. Polio eradication efforts in Pakistan have slowed down due to challenges like security issues, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. At least 71 polio cases were reported in Pakistan in 2024, with the virus detected in around 90 districts.

Polio workers have been frequently targeted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. A police constable, who was deployed for the security of the polio vaccination team, was shot dead after unidentified assailants opened fire in the Kaahi area of Nizampur in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 15.

Police identified the constable as Maqsood (35), a resident of Kheshgi. Police spokesperson said that the incident happened when female health workers were administering polio drops to children in a house, Pakistan's leading daily, The Express Tribune, reported.

The attackers fled from the spot after the incident, and the authorities have launched a search operation to arrest them.

Earlier on October 14, a Levies constable deployed for the protection of the polio vaccination team was shot dead after unidentified assailants opened fire on him in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the police authorities.

According to Swat's District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Umar Khan, the Levies constable who was killed was doing his duty along with a polio team comprising two female health workers.

--IANS

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