This Year’s 10th Polio Sample Discovered in Bannu

The National Polio Laboratory at Pakistan’s National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad verified the 10th polio-positive environmental sample found in Bannu this year.

The Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) is the twenty-second sample detected from KP, an official announced on Tuesday.

The official further revealed that the most recent positive environmental sample was obtained on October 3, 2022, from Hinjil Noorabad; the genetic sequencing results suggest that the discovered virus (new positive sample) is connected to a case reported in North Waziristan.

The district’s previous latest positive sample was discovered on September 27, 2022; the last Wild Poliovirus case was recorded in April 2020, while the most recent polio campaign lasted from September 22 to 25 this year. On the other hand, this month’s polio campaign began on Tuesday. 

According to an NIH spokesperson, the overall number of positive environmental samples in 2022 was 32, with 22 positive environmental samples found from KP, including 10 from Bannu, one each from Nowshera and South Waziristan, and five each from Peshawar and Swat.

Similarly, eight positive samples from Punjab have been discovered so far, including three from Rawalpindi and Lahore, one from Sialkot and Bahawalpur, and one from Islamabad and Sindh (Landhi, Karachi). In comparison, 65 positive environmental samples were identified in the country last year.