Poliovirus found in sewage of seven cities

KARACHI: Health officials have confirmed the presence of poliovirus in sewage samples collected from seven major cities of Pakistan. 

The poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples collected for testing from four Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cities, Peshawar, Bannu, Nowshera, and Swat. Sources expressed that the Poliovirus strain WPV-1 was also detected in sewage samples of Rawalpindi, Lahore and the capital city of Islamabad. 

These sewage samples were collected last month from drains,. “Poliovirus has been detected in 11 Pakistani cities in the year 2022,” sources told. 

Poliovirus was detected in sewage collected from Hanjal Noorbad in Bannu, Islamabad’s vegetable market, sources said. The Polio virus was last time detected in Islamabad in the year 2018. 

“Moreover, poliovirus detected in sewage collected from Multan Road in Lahore, Shaheen Muslim Town Peshawar, Mill Colony Nowshera, Saidu Sharif in Swat and Safdarabad of Rawalpindi,” sources said. 

The strain of the wild poliovirus found in seven cities has been genetically linked with Bannu. Federal officials have reported 13 confirmed cases of polio in North Waziristan and one in Laki Marwat this year.