ISLAMABAD: A seven-month-old girl was confirmed to be paralyzed by wild polio on Wednesday in the seventh wild polio case in Pakistan this year and the sixth in Mir Ali in the northwestern North Waziristan region, the health minister said.
The child had an onset of paralysis on May 2.
More cases are expected in North Waziristan due to high refusal rates and instances of finger-marking without vaccination during campaigns. With this new case, the global count for wild polio in 2022 has reached eight from endemic countries, with one case reported from Afghanistan in January.
“The outbreak in North Waziristan appears to be following the same pattern as that witnessed in 2014 and 2019 when there was a surge in cases in the same area. We are working tirelessly to ensure that we break this pattern,” Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said.
The southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, namely North and South Waziristan, DI Khan, Bannu, Tank and Lakki Marwat, are at highest risk of wild poliovirus. 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.
“These cases are happening in the same part of the country but parents and caregivers around Pakistan must remain extremely vigilant and give their children repeated doses of the polio vaccine,” Patel said.
“We are administering the polio vaccine to children up to the age of 10 at all entry and exit points from southern KP to stop the spread of the virus,” National Emergency Operations Coordinator Dr. Shahzad Baig said.
