A Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of polio virus in the environmental samples taken from Hyderabad and Jamshoro districts this month.

The environmental sample was collected on July 1 from Tulsidas Pumping Station in Hyderabad, according to the report. “This is the 12th positive sample from district Hyderabad this year,” shows the report.

The isolated virus was classified as YB3A-4B cluster which was 99.89% genetically linked to the virus detected in an environmental sample in Karachi East on January 11, 2024. Another sample which had been tested positive was collected on July 2 from the Drain KB Feeder in Jamshoro.

This happened to be the 5th positive sample from district Jamshoro in 2024. “The isolated virus is classified as YB3A-4B cluster and it is 99.77% genetically linked to the virus detected in an environmental sample in Hyderabad on May 6 this year,” the report says.

The authorities carried out a seven-day polio immunisation campaign earlier this month with a target to innoculate over 300,000 children. More than 21,000 children of up to five years of age could not be immunised because either they were unavailable or because their families refused the immunisation.