ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication on Monday confirmed the country’s seventh polio case of the year in Sindh, underscoring the urgent need for consistent vaccination to protect children against the paralytic disease.
Of the total cases, five are from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the remaining two are from Sindh
The case was reported from Karachi East, Sindh. The disease has no cure but can be prevented through vaccination.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by the poliovirus that primarily affects children under the age of five.
It attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis or death. While there is no cure for the disease, vaccination remains the most effective means of prevention.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only countries across the globe where wild poliovirus is endemic.
According to the NEOC press release, the affected child is a six-month-old boy from Union Council Jamali Colony in Karachi East.
Polio surveillance network
It said the case was detected through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
The statement noted that Karachi’s last reported polio case was in December 2024.
According to the NEOC, Pakistan has conducted four large-scale polio vaccination campaigns in the ongoing year, targeting more than 45 million children.
