Pakistan confirms its second polio case in 2025
Islamabad: According to the media report, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication has verified Pakistan’s second polio case in 2025. The most recent instance was recorded from Sindh’s Badin district. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan, the year’s first case was recorded.
One case each from Punjab and Islamabad, 27 from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 23 from Sindh made up the 74 polio cases that were recorded in 2024.
There is no known treatment for polio, a highly contagious illness that may paralyze and even kill victims. Still, the best defense against this debilitating illness for kids is immunization. High immunity against polio is mostly dependent on children under five receiving many doses of the oral polio vaccine and adhering to the recommended immunization schedule.
The first countrywide polio vaccine campaign of 2025 was finished, according to officials, and it reached 99 percent of its goal. More than 45 million youngsters received the polio vaccination during the February 3–9 campaign.
Dawn reported earlier on Sunday that environmental samples collected from 21 areas in Pakistan confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).
The samples were collected from Dera Bugti, Hub, Khuzdar, Noshki, Nasirabad, Usta Muhammad, Zhob, Lasbela, Islamabad, Charsadda, Peshawar, Swabi, Tank, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Jhang, Lahore, Multan, Rahimyar Khan, and Karachi East, according to a representative of the NIH Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication.
The World Health Organization reports that Pakistan had a return of polio infections and accelerated transmission of the disease beginning in late 2018. In addition, new constraints brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that the program quickly and consistently modify polio campaign operating modes to protect community members and frontline personnel. The initiative is focused on high-risk regions, such as south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, central Pakistan, and core reservoirs, and it is constantly changing its geographic emphasis to guarantee that polio transmission is stopped.
