ISLAMABAD - Four more polio cases surfaced on Wednesday night, taking the total to 231 this year in the country. Out of four new cases, two were reported from Khyber Agency and two from Peshawar. Total of 150 cases reported in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), 48 cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 23 Sindh, 7 from Balochistan and in 3 Punjab.
On Tuesday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed seven new wild type-1 polio cases from Peshawar and Khyber Agency. Out of seven cases four were from Khyber Agency, while one each wass from FR Bannu, Charsadda and Peshawar. Out of total 231 cases, Federally Administered Tribal Area has reported 148, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 46, Sindh, 23, Punjab, 03, and Balochistan, 07. The NIH official said that polio cases increased during the high transmission season from July to December. Comparatively, last year's figures were 31 by September 2013.
This year's the total cases have reached 222 with FATA on top. This year, Pakistan broke its own 14-year-old record when it crossed 200 polio cases.
According to the World Health Organisation, the country is at a "tipping point" as the remaining endemic countries in the world, Afghanistan and Nigeria have seen a significant decline in the number of cases in 2014.