ISLAMABAD: Health authorities said on Saturday they had found poliovirus traces in a fourth environment sample in Pakistan's second largest city of Lahore, where the crippling disease last time paralyzed a child in July 2020.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease caused by the poliovirus, which mainly affects children under the age of five. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death in some cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) regional laboratory at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad confirmed the latest detection in an environment sample taken from Lahore's Multan Road, according to Pakistan's National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).
"Three of the four samples in Lahore have been genetically linked to a virus cluster in Afghanistan," the NEOC said in a statement.
The virus was detected amid a polio vaccination campaign in the eastern Pakistani city that will conclude on September 10.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains an endemic. However, Pakistan has made significant progress towards the elimination of the virus in recent years.
“While the presence of the virus is always concerning, the Pakistan Polio Programme has vastly expanded its poliovirus surveillance system,” Caretaker Pakistani Health Minister Dr. Nadeem Jan said.
"Today, we are testing more than double the number of samples we tested last year. So, these detections highlight the strength of the system to be able to timely detect the virus."
This year, the polio laboratory tested over 1,700 samples, of which 22 were detected with wild poliovirus. Two children have so far been paralyzed by the disease in 2023, who belong to northwestern Pakistani district of Bannu.
Health Secretary Iftikhar Shallwani said eradicating polio was the "topmost priority" of the Pakistani authorities.
“Polio eradication is not just an objective; it is the topmost priority for the Health Ministry," the official said. "Every child deserves a life free from the threat of polio, and we are dedicated to making this a reality."
