Karachi reports first polio case since December 2024, Pakistan's tally for 2026 reaches 7
A six-month-old boy from Karachi East has wild poliovirus. A vaccination drive covering all Karachi districts runs November 2 to 8.
Karachi has reported its first polio case since December 2024, taking Pakistan’s total for this year to seven.
The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for polio eradication confirmed on Monday, October 19, that a six-month-old boy from Union Council Jamali Colony in Karachi’s East district has wild poliovirus. The case was picked up by the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health in Islamabad.
What we know about the case
According to Dawn, the NEOC said the child was malnourished and was infected by virus already circulating in Karachi. Only one environmental sampling site in the city tested positive in September. A full investigation has been launched, and the polio programme says it’s working out the best response to stop further spread, including targeted vaccination and support for routine immunisation.
Where the cases are
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 5 cases, four of them from Bannu division
- Sindh: 2 cases, including this one in Karachi
The sixth case of the year, a seven-year-old boy from Khyber district, was reported about two weeks ago.
The numbers are far lower than last year, when Pakistan recorded 31 cases, 20 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The NEOC says cases have fallen by 99.8% since the early 1990s, when the country saw an estimated 20,000 a year. But Pakistan and Afghanistan are still the only two countries where wild polio has never been stopped, so one case in a city the size of Karachi is a serious warning.
What parents should do
Polio has no cure. The NEOC says vaccination is the only protection.
The next vaccination campaign runs from November 2 to 8 in 97 districts, aiming to reach nearly 24 million children, including every district of Karachi. It’s being held at the same time as a campaign in Afghanistan.
The NEOC is urging parents to:
- Give their children the polio drops in every campaign, even if they have had them before.
- Keep up with routine immunisation at their local health centre.
Sources
This story was researched and drafted with AI assistance, then checked and edited by our editor before publishing.
