74th polio case of 2024 confirmed

Islamabad: The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Prevention at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed the detection of the 74th wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case in the country for the year 2024.

According to a report, the laboratory on Tuesday confirmed a polio case in Shikarpur district of Sindh. A laboratory official said that this is the second polio case from Shikarpur in 2024.

Last month, a laboratory official at the NIH confirmed the detection of a WPV1 case from Thatta which was the first case from the city in 2024. Since the sample was collected in December last year, this case has been declared as part of the previous year’s data.

According to the official, the incubation period for the sample is about three weeks, which can increase further during the winter season.

A total of 74 cases were reported in the country in 2024, of which 27 were in Balochistan, 23 in Sindh, 22 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each in Punjab and Islamabad.

The official said that only one case of polio has been reported so far in 2025 and that was in the Dera Ismail Khan area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Pakistan Polio Program conducts several mass vaccination campaigns every year, in which children are provided with vaccines at their doorsteps.