Polio Case Reported from Killa Abdullah, Balochistan

Pakistan's National Emergency Operations Centre confirmed a wild poliovirus type 1 case from Killa Abdullah district in Balochistan. The district's appearance in a case announcement is not an anomaly — it is one of the most persistent poliovirus reservoirs in the world.

Why Killa Abdullah keeps appearing

Killa Abdullah, together with Quetta and Chaman, forms what the programme calls the Quetta block. It is one of a very small number of places globally where wild poliovirus transmission has never been interrupted, and the reasons are structural rather than accidental.

• Cross-border movement. Chaman sits on one of the busiest crossings on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Traders, labourers and families move constantly in both directions, so a significant share of young children are in transit rather than at home when a campaign runs.
• Low routine immunisation. Coverage through the routine EPI schedule has historically been weak across the district, leaving children dependent on campaign rounds alone.
• Mobile and nomadic populations. Seasonal migration makes fixed-household microplans unreliable — the family counted last round may not be there this round.
• Refusals and mistrust. Persistent community resistance in specific settlements has left pockets of children unvaccinated across multiple consecutive rounds.

What the programme does differently here

Because household campaigns alone cannot reach a population this mobile, the Quetta block relies heavily on permanent transit point vaccination — teams stationed at the border crossing itself, at bus terminals and on highways, vaccinating children while they travel. Pakistan operates around 500 such transit points nationwide.

The district also receives more frequent campaign rounds and closer supervision under the programme's risk tiering. See high-risk areas and risk tiers.

One epidemiological block

Pakistan and Afghanistan are treated as a single epidemiological block precisely because of places like Chaman. Genetic sequencing regularly shows virus strains travelling in both directions, and campaign timing on the two sides is synchronised for that reason. See the joint Pakistan-Afghanistan strategy.

For families in Killa Abdullah

Two drops in every round, for every child under five, including children who received drops last month. If you are travelling, let your children be vaccinated at the transit point. If a team does not reach you, call 1166.

Related: Muhammad Essa, the footballer from Killa Abdullah · district-wise cases