KARACHI - Two polio cases surfaced in the country on Thursday with one in Karachi and another in Tehsil Mir Ali, sources in the health department said. The latest case in Karachi was reported in UC-9 Islamia Colony, Kunwari Colony, Site Town.
According to the health officials, the polio virus was detected in a 30-month-old girl child, who is resident of Site Town, Karachi.
The girl, daughter of Nazeerudeen, had zero dose of anti-polio vaccine due to refusal of her family.
Another polio case was detected in Tehsil Mir Ali in a 10-month-old boy namely Muhammad Asif, son of Rehman Sarwar. After the reporting of two cases, the total cases of polio in the country approached to 70 in the ongoing year. There have been 67 new cases of polio in Pakistan so far this year, compared with eight during the same period last year.
More than 90 percent of cases were reported in the tribal areas, roughly 70 percent of them in North Waziristan, where there have been no vaccinations for two years. Pakistan launched a fresh polio vaccination drive in its restive tribal belt, but officials warned that nearly 370,000 children are likely to miss out because of security problems.
At the start of May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global “public health emergency” after new polio cases began surfacing and spreading across borders from countries including Pakistan.
Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal areas along the Afghan border are the epicentre of the country’s polio cases and the government has set up checkpoints to ensure anyone leaving the belt is immunised.