ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) - A child has been paralysed by wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Chaman district of Balochistan.
According to the Regional Reference Lab for Polio Eradication based at the National Institute of Health, WPV1 was detected from the stool samples of a 52-month-old child from Chaman.
The child had suffered paralysis on Feb 29 and the isolated virus belongs to the imported YB3A cluster, which has been detected in 10 positive samples reported from Chaman since October 2023.
This is the second polio case reported in Pakistan in 2024. The first case was reported in Dera Bugti on March 14.
Poliovirus is in communities and continues to remain a persistent threat to children across the country since it has been detected in 56 environmental samples of more than 25 districts this year and in more than 100 sewage samples last year.
The virus particularly attacks children who are malnourished and have weak immunity because of being under-vaccinated or not vaccinated for polio and other childhood diseases.