New polio virus case emerges in Quetta

QUETTA: A new case of wild poliovirus type-1 emerged in Quetta o9n Tuesday bringing the total number of cases reported in Balochistan this year to six.

Health officials said the new case was detected in a three-year-old boy. "The EOC is closely monitoring the situation and will take every possible step to improve the quality of the campaign," a spokesperson for the Emergency Operation Centre said.

Read: Fresh polio virus case detected in Quetta

The virus was detected in a toddler, Naqeebullah, who received seven drops for the virus, the spokesperson confirmed.

This is the fourth polio case reported in Quetta and the sixth in Balochistan this year.

As efforts remain underway to eradicate the virus across the country, the number has reached 34 across Pakistan this year.

The provincial government has been putting all its efforts to root out poliovirus from the province and earlier this year adopted a fresh strategy where parents are being arrested for refusing to administer anti-polio drops to their children.

Read: Polio eradication: Over 750,000 children vaccinated

To date, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain to be the only two countries in the world which have not been able to eradicate the poliovirus, while Nigeria, which was in a similar situation, has reported no cases for over a year.