Poliovirus found in two samples from Peshawar

Two environmental samples collected from Peshawar district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province tested positive for wild poliovirus, the Pakistan Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed on Monday.

According to the lab, the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) was found in two sewage samples, which had been collected from Naray Khuwar and Larama collection sites on May 9 and 16, respectively.

The isolated viruses are genetically linked to the virus cluster, circulating in neighbouring Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, the lab report said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two polio endemic countries in the world.

On the report, Health Minister Qadir Patel said that poliovirus on any side of the border was a threat to children everywhere, and parents must continue to ensure that their children under five received the life-saving polio drops in all campaigns.

“The Pakistan Polio Programme is maintaining a robust surveillance system, which is evident from the prompt detections of the virus in sewage samples recently,” he said. “We will continue to hunt and eliminate the virus wherever we find it.”

Read Anti-polio drive kicks off across Pakistan

This year, one polio case and nine positive samples have been found in Pakistan, so far

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease caused by poliovirus, which mainly affects children under the age of five. The virus invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death in some cases.

Vaccination drives are the most-effective way to protect children. Except Afghanistan and Pakistan, all other countries are polio-free. This year, one polio case and nine positive samples were found in Pakistan, so far, while three cases and 23 samples in were detected Afghanistan.

Dr Shahzad Baig, the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication, said that presence of the virus in the environment was a cause for concern but not unexpected as last month was the high-travel Eid season.

Pakistan collects environmental samples from 114 sites in 80 districts every month to test for WPV1. “The polio programme has mounted swift responses to all virus detections in the past and will continue to do so in the future,” he said.