Pakistan has reported two new poliovirus cases, bringing this year’s total to eight, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH).
The sixth case was reported on Tuesday. While polio is eradicated in developed nations, it persists in parts of India, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The new cases were from Balochistan province and Karachi city. The NIH confirmed Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in stool samples from two children, one in Killa Abdullah district and the other in Karachi Keamari district.
In Killa Abdullah, a 24-month-old boy contracted polio and was paralyzed on May 22. This is the third polio case from Killa Abdullah and the sixth from Balochistan this year.
In Karachi, a 36-month-old girl contracted polio and was paralyzed on June 3. This is the first polio case from Karachi Keamari district and the second from Sindh province.
Efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan face challenges, including militant attacks on polio workers. Many Pakistanis, especially in conservative tribal areas, view the polio vaccination campaign as a Western plot to sterilize the population.
In 2012, the local Taliban banned immunization in some tribal districts, leading to the deaths of dozens of polio workers performing their duties.
