Islamabad: Recent tests on sewage samples from twelve districts in Pakistan, including a newly identified area, have confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), signaling ongoing risks of the disease to children.

According to Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health analyzed environmental samples collected from July 8 to July 10. These samples, gathered from districts such as Mirpur in AJK, Quetta, Killa Abdullah, Gwadar, Sibi, Nasirabad, Mirpur Khas, Karachi East, Sukkur, Peshawar, Lakki Marwat, and Lahore, tested positive for WPV1.

This year, the virus has been detected in 54 districts across the country, highlighting a persistent threat to children’s health, particularly those under five years of age. Health authorities continue to emphasize the critical importance of repetitive vaccination with the oral polio vaccine to safeguard children against this paralyzing disease.

The Pakistan Polio Programme has issued an urgent call to parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive the polio vaccine at every possible opportunity and complete all routine vaccinations to protect them from 12 vaccine-preventable childhood diseases.

Polio remains a severe infectious disease primarily affecting children under five. It targets the nervous system, potentially leading to paralysis or death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination remains the most effective defense, a strategy that has led to the eradication of polio in nearly all countries except Pakistan and Afghanistan.