North Waziristan: 13 cases of the polio virus have been detected this year in Pakistan and Afghanistan.North Waziristan is home to all incidences of wild polio.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s southern areas have been identified as having the highest risk of wild poliovirus transmission.
The 12th case of the viral disease’s wild polio strain in Pakistan this year has left a 21-month-old boy paralysed. North Waziristan is home to every child this year who has contracted wild polio.
The Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, has established that the youngster in the most recent instance began to experience paralysis on June 18 and is a member of the Mir Ali (UC-2) family. The child’s right leg is paralysed, according to early investigations.
At greatest danger for wild polio virus transmission are the southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa districts, North and South Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Tank, and Lakki Marwat. Additionally, Bannu reported two positive environmental samples in April and May of this year, demonstrating that North Waziristan is not the only place where the wild polio virus is still being transmitted.Since the first child was discovered with polio-related paralysis, according to Federal Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel, the Pakistan Polio Programme has repeatedly launched immunisation campaigns in southern KP. He stated that the programme is still working to prevent the virus from spreading.
“Parents and caregivers throughout Pakistan must remain extremely attentive and give their children repeated doses of the polio vaccination,” said Federal Health Secretary Dr. Fakhre Alam Irfan.
The only two remaining polio-endemic nations in the world, Pakistan and Afghanistan, have both recorded 13 cases this year.
