Health officials have reported that another environmental sample collected from Rawalpindi has tested positive for the wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1).

This virus has been genetically linked to a cluster currently circulating in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. The confirmation was made by Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory, located at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad.

This marks the second instance of a positive sample from Rawalpindi in 2023. The sample was collected from the Safdarabad environmental collection site on 10 August. The first positive sample from Rawalpindi was obtained on 17 July from the Sarae Kala site.

The detected virus has been classified as belonging to the YB3A cluster and is found to be 98.56 percent genetically linked to a virus identified in an environmental sample taken from Jalalabad in Afghanistan on 1 January.

With this new finding, the count of positive environmental samples in Pakistan collected in 2023 reaches 16. However, the number of confirmed polio cases in the country remains at two for the same period. In light of this situation, Caretaker Federal Health Minister Dr. Nadeem Jan emphasized the crucial role of polio vaccination in safeguarding children from this debilitating virus.

Dr. Shahzad Baig, Coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, highlighted the swift detection capabilities of Pakistan’s polio surveillance network and stressed collaboration with Afghanistan’s Polio Programme to bolster vaccinations at the shared border.

Source: Pro Pakistani