The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in a male child from Karachi East.

This brings the total number of polio cases in the country to 70 in 2024. The onset of the case was on December 21, 2024.

Karachi East reported two polio cases in 2024.

Pakistan has been responding to an intense resurgence of WPV1 with 70 cases reported in 2024. Of these, 27 are from Balochistan, 21 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 20 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

Polio is a paralysing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five are essential to provide children with high immunity against this terrible disease.