Three new polio cases surfaced in Khyber Agency today, taking the count to 92, only one case away from last year’s tally of 93. Separately, in Sindh’s Sanghar district, one child was diagnosed with polio.
The cases from Khyber Agency have been confirmed by the Polio Virology Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.
An official of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), on the condition of anonymity, said the children from Khyber Agency had not been immunised due to the worsening situation in the area and the militants’ ban on immunisation for the last three years.
Separately, in Sindh, a 22-month-old infant was diagnosed with the polio in Sanghar district.
Rehamatullah, son of Gul Muhammad Brohi, was tested positive with the virus in a report issued by the National Institute of Health.
“We were satisfied that no case had surfaced in Sanghar for over three years. But this occurrence has shaken us,” said Dr Tahir Kalyar, the district focal person of polio campaign. He told the media that the child has been administered six polio doses since his birth but he still caught the virus.
