6th case of polio reported in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], March 1 (ANI): The rise in polio cases in Pakistan continues as the country reported sixth case of the virus in 2025, ARY News reported on Saturday.

According to NEOC, the polio case was reported in Thatta Sindh, bringing the total provincial number in 2025 to four and countrywide to six, as per ARY News.

On Friday, Pakistan Polio Eradication Program, detected two polio cases in Qambar district in Sindh and Mandi Bahauddin district in Punjab. This brought the total number of polio cases in Pakistan to five since January 2025.

The latest development comes as health workers conclude a targeted vaccination drive in high-risk areas later Friday.

The two new polio cases have been reported in Sindh and Punjab.

The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health said that the cases have been detected in Sindh's Kambar and Punjab's Mandi Bahauddin.

Speaking to Dawn, a lab official said, "This is the third polio case from Sindh and the first from Punjab this year, bringing the total number of cases in 2025 to five.

"The three previous cases in 2025 were detected in Badin and Larkana districts of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan district.

There were 74 polio cases recorded in 2024, the previous year. Of them, one each came from Punjab and Islamabad, while 27 came from Balochistan, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and 23 from Sindh, as per ARY News.

On February 2, Quetta administration arrested five people who refused to allow their children to be vaccinated against polio, ARY News reported. Assistant Commissioner Maria Shamooun, accompanied by a polio team, visited various areas of Sariab and 15 children of reluctant parents were administered the polio vaccine after persuasion, according to district administration. Despite repeated warnings, five parents who continued to refuse vaccination were taken into custody.

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity against this terrible disease, ARY News reported. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)