Pak reports eighth polio case in Shikarpur

A fresh polio case has been reported in Sindh's Shikarpur district in Pakistan , bringing the year's total to eight cases.

Dawn reports that Deputy Health Officer Shikarpur Dr Qazi Khursheed Ahmed said that a sample collected from four-year-old Ashiq Hussain confirmed that the child had polio.

Hussain's father said his son had regularly been administered anti-polio drops.

It is the fourth such case reported in the province and the second from Shikarpur.

The last case was reported in March.

Militant groups often attack polio teams in the country as they see vaccination campaigns as a cover for espionage. There are also long running rumours about polio drops causing infertility.

This year three cases each were reported from Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and one from Balochistan, the latest case from Sindh brings the total number to eight across the country.

It is pertinent to note here that Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world which have not been able to eradicate the polio-virus.