Health workers arrive at a railway station to administer polio vaccine drops to children during a vaccination campaign in Karachi on Sept 24, 2018. PHOTO:AFP
PESHAWAR: Authorities in the tribal district of Bajaur reported two new poliovirus cases on Thursday.
Both stool and environmental samples were collected and tested positive for the virus.
Former UN official tipped as polio programme chief
Earlier on October 24, environmental samples from the district tested positive and samples collected from Kohat had matched the virus detected in Bajaur after genetic sequencing.
An attack on a polio vaccination team martyred a security official in the Badan area of Bajaur tribal district earlier in September.
The security official, a levies personnel, was returning from polio duty when unidentified gunmen opened fire.
The area was cordoned off after the attack and a search operation was launched.
Anti-polio campaign: 5.7 million children to be immunised across K-P
After a polio case was reported earlier in the year, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health officials stated such a case poses a serious threat to the entire program, adding that since the virus is circulating in the environment, activities will be further expanded to curb the virus’ movement.
So far in 2018, as many as four poliovirus cases had been reported across the country. A comprehensive campaign was launched in September where over 5.7 million children under five-years-of-age will be vaccinated against the virus.
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