Pakistan has reported another poliovirus case bringing the number of cases reported this year to 18.
The latest case surfaced in the North Waziristan district which has emerged as the hotbed to poliovirus in the country.
Health officials said that that samples taken from a three-month-old baby tested positive for the poliovirus.
“This makes a total of 18 Wild Poliovirus cases confirmed this year in Pakistan,” the statement from the National Emergency Operation Centre for Polio Eradication said.
The southern districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, namely North and South Waziristan, DI Khan, Bannu, Tank, and Lakki Marwat, have become the hotspot of wild poliovirus with most cases reported in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area.
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme has run repeated immunization campaigns in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since the first child was reported with polio-induced paralysis and continues to strive to ensure that the virus does not spread.
