ISLAMABAD: A 10-month-old baby girl was diagnosed with poliovirus in district Kohat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the total number of polio cases in Pakistan to 23.
The infant, hailing from Tehsil Darra Adamkhel, contracted the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) that left her paralysed on September 12, marking the second case reported from the country’s northwestern province this year.
This second case in KP comes days after the province’s first polio case was confirmed in the Mohmand district on September 6.
The province had remained polio-free until earlier this month following the serious and non-stop efforts of the provincial government, polio workers and national and international organisations working together towards the polio eradication. These efforts were particularly observed in KP’s southern districts, including Kohat, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan, North Waziristan, South Waziristan, Upper and Lower Waziristan, Kurram tribal district, and Orakzai district.
The latest polio case in KP was reported a day after authorities on Wednesday confirmed that a 30-month-old boy from Pishin, Balochistan, had been struck by the poliovirus, marking the province’s 15th case.
So far, Balochistan remains the epicenter of the outbreak with 15 confirmed cases, while Sindh has reported four. Meanwhile, Punjab and Islamabad have each recorded one case, while KP has reported its second.