Polio starts rearing its ugly head in country

The poliovirus has started to spread its claws again in the country as the crippling disease has been detected in 14 sewage samples from seven cities.

According to the Ministry of Health sources, the cities affected by the poliovirus belong to Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan as the number of sewage samples positive for polio in 2023 reached 112.

According to the sources, the poliovirus is present in sewage of Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta, Sukkur, while tests of sewage of Islamabad, Hyderabad, and Kohat were also positive. Samples for polio testing were taken from five cities from Dec 4 to 12, the sources added.

In Peshawar, the sewage samples of Hayatabad, Narekhor, Gulabad, Tajabad, Changi Yusufabad tested positive for polio. During 2023, the poliovirus was found in Peshawar sewage 29 times. The sewage virus is genetically linked to Afghanistan and Rawalpindi.

The poliovirus is also present in the sewage of Faqirabad district of Kohat. It was found for the third time in the sewage sample of Kohat in 2023. Samples for testing were taken from there on Dec 13. The genetic link of the poliovirus in Kohat is Gadap, Karachi.

Sewage samples of Machhar Colony and Rashid Minhas Road in East Karachi are also polio positive. Samples were taken from there on Dec 11 and 12 while genetic link is from Gadap and Liaquatabad. In 2023, 13 sewage samples from Karachi East came out polio positive.

The poliovirus had been confirmed in the sewage sample of Mohammad Khan Colony, Keamari in 2023.

Read also: Poliovirus found in five environs samples

The poliovirus was found for seventh time in the sewage of Keamari with a genetic link to Peshawar.

Haji Mureed Goth sewage from central Karachi tested positive for polio, and in 2023, sewage here tested positive for polio for the fourth time, which is genetically linked to Karachi East.

The sewage sample of the Khamiso Goth area of Karachi West is positive for polio as in 2023, its sewage was shown to be positive for polio for the first time. It is genetically related to Gadap.

Sewage samples of Jacob Pump and Latifabad in Hyderabad tested positive for polio in 2023. Hyderabad sewage tested positive for polio for the fourth time. The virus is genetically local.

The sewage from the Maka pumping station in Sukkur also tested positive for polio. In 2023, the poliovirus with genetic links to Liaquatabad in Karachi was found for the first time in the sewage there.

The poliovirus was also confirmed in the railway bridge sewage sample in the Quetta area. In 2023, the poliovirus was found for the eighth time in the Quetta sewage. Its genetic link is from Chaman.

The sewage sample from the Jhangi Syedan area of Islamabad also tested positive for polio for the first time, with a genetic link to Peshawar. It should be noted that six cases of the poliovirus were reported in the country during 2023.