Pakistan
North Waziristan becomes polio hotspot after third reported case
North Waziristan:-District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become a hotspot for polio after the third case has been reported within 20 days.
A one-year-old girl is the latest victim to fall prey to the virus that has been eliminated in most countries of the world but continues to surface in Pakistan.
Federal Minister for Health Abdul Qadir Patel confirmed the third polio case from North Waziristan Sunday, saying that it was alarming.
“As a nation, the non-eradication of polio is a great tragedy because a single case is a great loss to us,” he said.
The minister said emergency measures are being taken to curb the virus and he is personally monitoring it.
He visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where he met the victims’ families. He decided to visit hotspot districts as well.
This is the third Wild Poliovirus case in 2022 in Pakistan after the first case was reported from the same district on 22 April 2022 and the second case on April 29.
Pakistan had reported only one WPV1 case in 2021 which had onset of paralysis on 27 January in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan.
Earlier, genetic analysis of the new Type-1 Wild Poliovirus case shows that the virus belongs to the YB3C cluster and is linked to the Poliovirus case reported last month. This indicates well-established Wild Poliovirus circulation within the district North Waziristan, the polio eradication center said.
