Pakistan: New polio cases surface in the country

The Express Tribune

Three new polio cases surfaced from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) and the tribal areas on Sunday, while one was also reported from Karachi. The National Institute of Health, Islamabad confirmed the new cases. The infected children have not received a single dose of oral polio vaccine (OPV). Twelve-month-old Bushra, a resident of Hindi Khel, Frontier Region Bannu has not received a single dose of the vaccine as the area has been inaccessible for polio teams since June 2012. The second child confirmed to have the crippling disease is 12-month-old Tufail, son of Nair Shah and a resident of Mirdad Khel, Khyber Agency. Tufail has also not received any OPV dose. Two-month-old Nazeefa, daughter of Ziaul Haq and a resident of Miramand Banda, Swabi is also among the infected children. Although Swabi is one of the more accessible areas in K-P, the affected child has not received any OPV dose. Meanwhile, the fourth case to emerge on Sunday was 12-month-old Rehmatullah, son of Yar Muhammad and a resident of Gadap Town, Karachi. This is the second polio case recorded from Gadap this year. The total number of polio cases in the country has increased to 53 this year, as compared to 2012’s total of 58. Four cases have been reported from Sindh, three from Punjab, and the rest have been reported from tribal areas and K-P.