Wild poliovirus detected in environmental samples in Pakistan: Report

Two environmental samples collected from Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have tested positive for wild poliovirus, the Health Ministry said.

Wild poliovirus type 1 was found in sewage samples collected from Naray Khuwar and Larama collection sites of Peshawar on May 9 and 16, respectively, Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry as saying.

The isolated viruses are genetically linked to the virus cluster circulating in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, it added.

As the only two endemic countries, Pakistan and Afghanistan are united in their fight against polio and both countries would not rest until they eradicate it, Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel was quoted as saying in a statement.

According to a recent report from the World Health Organization, all the new polio cases reported in Pakistan since January 2021 are from seven polio-endemic districts in the southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

In 2021, there was one documented case in Pakistan and 84 in 2020.

In 2019, there were a record 147 cases.

Last year, there were 20 cases.

--IANS

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