• As robust poliovirus surveillance continues in Pakistan, 18 environmental (sewage) samples collected from 15 districts between January 24 and February 4 were tested at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health during the past week.
  • The lab confirmed detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in sewage samples of Pishin, Chaman, Quetta, Islamabad, Ghotki, Hyderabad, Kambar, Karachi West, Larkana, Karachi Keamari, and Sukkur. While the samples from Shaheed Benazirabad, Khyber, Peshawar, Multan and Islamabad tested negative for poliovirus.
  • The Polio Programme is implementing a rigorous vaccination schedule to protect children from paralytic polio and interrupt virus transmission.
  • The first nationwide polio campaign of 2025 reached over 45 million children with the vaccine earlier this month, while a fIPV-OPV campaign is underway in Karachi and Quetta Division to vaccinate nearly 1 million children with the injectable and oral polio vaccines for an added immunity boost. This campaign is aligned with the Big Catch-Up also being implemented nationwide by the Expanded Programme on Immunization to immunize missed or under-vaccinated children against 12 preventable childhood diseases.
  • Moreover, over 0.66 million children will be vaccinated during a targeted vaccination activity from February 24-28 in 104 union councils bordering Afghanistan or having Afghan refugee camps/populations to reduce the risk of cross-border and internal poliovirus transmission.
  • With the implementation of multiple high-quality mass vaccination campaigns since September 2024 to increase children’s immunity, the number of polio cases has continued to decline, with only three cases reported so far in 2025. However, as long as poliovirus survives and circulates in communities, no child anywhere is safe from it.
  • The Polio Programme urges all parents to get their children vaccinated against polio at every opportunity to keep them protected from this devastating disease.