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 14 January with symptoms beginning on 27 December 2024.
The Regional Polio Eradication Reference Laboratory 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 officials continue to emphasize the importance of vaccination to prevent further outbreaks.
Polio remains a debilitating disease with no cure, making it essential for children to receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to achieve immunity.
Pakistan’s polio program has conducted nationwide vaccination campaigns to combat the resurgence. The next nationwide campaign is set for 3-9. February 2025, and the authorities are urging parents to ensure that all children under the age of five are vaccinated.
The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) also provides free vaccinations against 12 childhood diseases at health facilities across the country.
Earlier, Pakistan reported its first polio case in 2025, with a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 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 travelers 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 into the Kingdom.
The authority clarified that passengers traveling through these countries for less than 12 hours without leaving the airport’s transit area would be exempt from the requirement.
