Two more polio cases were reported in Pakistan on Saturday, taking this year's tally so far to 45.
The first case was reported in the Lakki Marwat area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the second case was reported in Dera Ismail Khan.
A lab working under the National Institute of Health (NIH) conirmed the reports about the presence of the polio virus in two more Pakistani children.
On October 30, Pakistan reported a polio case in Balochistan’s Chagai district, raising the national count for the year to 43.
According to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries where polio remains endemic, and vaccination teams are frequently targeted by militants waging a campaign against security forces.
Earlier this week, Pakistan launched a week-long vaccination campaign with the aim to immunise more than 45 million children under the age of five.
According to a statement, “The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute in of Health has confirmed the detection of the 43rd Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) case in Pakistan.”
“On Wednesday, 30 October 2024, the lab confirmed detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus in a child from Chagai district of Balochistan.”