As robust poliovirus surveillance continues in Pakistan, 18 environmental (sewage) samples collected from 15 districts between January 24 and February 4 were tested at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health during the past week.
The lab confirmed detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in sewage samples of Pishin, Chaman, Quetta, Islamabad, Ghotki, Hyderabad, Kambar, Karachi West, Larkana, Karachi Keamari, and Sukkur. While the samples from Shaheed Benazirabad, Khyber, Peshawar, Multan and Islamabad tested negative for poliovirus.
The Polio Programme is implementing a rigorous vaccination schedule to protect children from paralytic polio and interrupt virus transmission.
The first nationwide polio campaign of 2025 reached over 45 million children with the vaccine earlier this month, while a fIPV-OPV campaign is underway in Karachi and Quetta Division to vaccinate nearly 1 million children with the injectable and oral polio vaccines for an added immunity boost. This campaign is aligned with the Big Catch-Up also being implemented nationwide by the Expanded Programme on Immunization to immunize missed or under-vaccinated children against 12 preventable childhood diseases.
