The first case of polio was reported in a neighbourhood of Gadap town in Karachi on Friday, the first such case in Sindh after three years.

The victim is reported to be a two-year-old child in Gujro area of Gadap town. With the new case, the total number of children affected by polio in Pakistan has now increased to four.

The last case of polio in Sindh was reported in July 2020.

While the authorities investigate the emergence of the virus, it is similar to the virus spread in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Poliovirus has been confirmed in the environmental samples of four districts of the country, Associated Press of Pakistan reported a day earlier.

According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, these samples were confirmed from cities including Karachi, Rawalpindi, Chaman, and Peshawar, it added.

The genetic analysis revealed that the virus found in all the samples belonged to the poliovirus cluster in Afghanistan. Caretaker Minister for Health Dr Nadeem Jan said that 43 positive environmental samples had been reported in the country.

He added that Pakistan had the world’s most sensitive polio surveillance system, as rapid confirmation of the virus in environmental samples demonstrated that the system was working efficiently.

The presence of viruses in the environment was a threat to every child, Dr Jan said.

He said the crippling disease was incurable and that the only vaccine provided lifelong protection to children. “We have organised many polio campaigns this year,” he said, adding in November, in the areas where the virus was present, the children would be vaccinated through a campaign.

He said parents must give polio drops to children in every campaign.