Poliovirus in sewage of three more cities

ISLAMABAD: It has been confirmed by The National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad that Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) was found in three more cities’ environmental samples.

As per the NIH Regional Reference Lab for Polio Eradication, sewage samples collected from Karachi South, Karachi Central, Jamshoro, and Hub contained poliovirus, genetically linked to the imported YB3A genetic cluster of WPV1.

A health ministry official says, "The virus has been found in sewage samples of 34 districts so far this year. All positive samples and the two human cases reported in 2024 contain the YB3A cluster, which had disappeared from Pakistan in 2021 but remained in circulation in Afghanistan and was reintroduced through cross-border transmission last year."