New Karachi case takes nationwide polio tally to 7

A new polio case has been reported in Karachi East, taking Pakistan's tally for 2026 to seven, with five cases reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh, the Sindh Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) said on Monday.

The development comes ahead of a week-long sub-national polio vaccination campaign scheduled for November 2 to 8, during which more than 23.9 million children under five years of age will be vaccinated across 97 selected districts of the country, including all districts of Karachi.

The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said frontline polio workers would visit households to administer two drops of the vaccine to every eligible child.

According to the Sindh EOC, the last polio case in Karachi was reported in December 2024. It stressed that although polio is an incurable disease, it can be prevented through vaccination.

Under the campaign plan, more than 9.278 million children will be vaccinated in 13 selected districts of Punjab, while over 6.883 million children will receive polio drops in 20 districts of Sindh.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the campaign will target more than 4.808 million children across 27 selected districts, while over 2.217 million children will be vaccinated in 31 districts of Balochistan.