Pakistan reports fresh polio case, yearly tally rises to 56

Peshawar: Pakistan has reported a new polio case, taking the country's tally of the crippling disease this year to 56, authorities said on Thursday. The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Islamabad's National Institutes of Health (NIH) confirmed the detection of the case in a boy from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the country's northwest.

This was the seventh polio case of the year from Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of the province.

Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces reported the highest number of cases, with 26 and 15 cases, respectively, while 13 were reported from the Sindh province and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

According to a press release issued by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), Pakistan was responding to an "intense resurgence" of wild poliovirus this year, with 56 cases reported so far.

"There is no cure for polio, only prevention," the press release said, advising the administration of multiple doses of polio drops and the completion of a routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five to ensure high immunity against the disease.

It added that the Pakistan Polio Programme conducted multiple mass vaccination drives every year, administering vaccines to children at their doorsteps.

On Sunday, three cases were reported in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The reference laboratory confirmed the three cases, with a lab official saying new cases were reported from Dera Ismail Khan, Zhob and Jaffarabad districts.

The victims were girls aged eight and 20 months and a five-month-old boy.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation.