Polio case count for 2024 rises to 71 as Jacobabad reports new infection

The total number of polio cases in Jacobabad for 2024 has reached five.

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Pakistan's National Institute of Health has confirmed the country's 71st case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) for 2024.

The latest case, involving a male child from Jacobabad, was reported on January 14, with symptoms beginning on December 27, 2024.

The regional reference laboratory for polio eradication confirmed the case, bringing the total number of polio cases in Jacobabad this year to five. The detection highlights an ongoing resurgence of the disease, with 71 cases reported in 2024.

Of the reported cases, 27 were from Balochistan, 21 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. Health authorities continue to emphasise the importance of vaccination to prevent further outbreaks.

Polio remains a debilitating disease with no cure, making it critical for children to receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to achieve immunity.

Pakistan's Polio Program has been conducting nationwide vaccination campaigns to combat the resurgence. The next nationwide campaign is set for February 3-9, 2025, and authorities are urging parents to ensure all children under five are vaccinated.

The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) also provides free vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases at health facilities across the country.

Previously, Pakistan reported its first polio case of 2025, with a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) confirmed to have contracted the virus.

A few days ago Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that polio vaccination is mandatory for travellers from Pakistan and several other countries.

In a statement, GACA specified that passengers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique must present a valid polio vaccination certificate upon entry to the Kingdom.

The authority clarified that passengers transiting through these countries for less than 12 hours without exiting the airport's transit area would be exempt from the requirement.