Poliovirus detected in Karachi's sewage line for first time in over a year

• Pakistan reported 11 positive cases of poliovirus in August.
• Total number of cases reported so far in 2022 stands at 22.
• KP, Punjab reported five positive cases each while Sindh reported one in August.

The Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) was detected in an environmental sample collected from a sewage line in Karachi's Landhi area in August, Pakistan’s National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad confirmed Saturday.

The News reported citing the officials of the federal ministry of national health services as saying that this was the first positive environmental sample from Sindh this year.

As many as 11 positive cases of poliovirus have been reported in Pakistan during August alone, while the total number of cases reported so far this year is 22. Of the 11 cases detected in August, five each were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab while Sindh reported one case.

The federal ministry’s officials said the environmental sample that was found positive in Karachi was collected on August 23 from the Bakhtawar Village in the Landhi area of Karachi.

“This is the first positive environmental sample from Karachi in 2022. The previous positive sample from Karachi was reported in May 2021. The last wild poliovirus case from the district was reported in June 2020. The recent polio campaign in the district was conducted from August 15 till 21,” an official explained.

Thirteen positive environmental samples in 2022 have been collected from KP, including seven from Bannu, three from Peshawar, two from Swat and one from Nowshera. Seven positive samples have been collected from Punjab, including three from Lahore, two from Rawalpindi, and one each from Bahawalpur and Sialkot. One positive sample each has been collected from Karachi and Islamabad.

Of these 22 positive samples, one was collected in April, two in May, one in June, seven in July, and 11 in August 2022, the official said, adding that in 2021, 65 positive environmental samples were detected in the country.