On Thursday, Dr. Shahzad Baig, the director of the polio programme, announced that the environmental sample taken from Karachi’s Gadap neighbourhood last month had tested positive for poliovirus.
Dr. Baig stated this year that they discovered the presence of the virus in environmental samples taken from Karachi’s Gadap Town.
He further mentioned that the disease had been successfully contained in the southern regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and this was the first reported case from Karachi this year.
Previously, positive environmental samples containing the wild poliovirus had been detected in Lahore, Hangu, Peshawar, DI Khan, and upper South Waziristan, as confirmed by the Pakistan Polio Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Last week, the NIH reported that two sewage samples from the Peshawar district, taken on May 9 and May 16 from Naray Khuwar and Larama collection sites respectively, tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).
Furthermore, it was revealed that the virus cluster circulating in the adjacent Afghan province is genetically related to the isolated viruses.
While polio cases have been significantly reduced worldwide. It has not been completely eradicated from Afghanistan and certain parts of the bordering areas of Pakistan due to factors such as inaccessible terrain, widespread displacement, and concerns related to foreign operations.