Poliovirus Detected In Lahore's Environmental Samples

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jan, 2023 ) :The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has said that wild poliovirus has recently been detected in the environmental samples of Lahore.

According to the spokesperson of the ministry, this was the first poliovirus detected this year from the environmental samples collected from Lahore.

Last year, Pakistan's National Polio Laboratory detected two cases of the Type-1 Wild Polio virus (WPV1) in the environmental samples collected from Faisalabad and Peshawar in November 2022.

With the latest detection of poliovirus cases, the tally of positive samples of poliovirus in the country reached 34 during the year 2022 including 10 from Bannu, six from Peshawar, five from Swat, three each from Lahore and Rawalpindi, one each from Nowshera, South Waziristan, Bahawalpur, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Karachi and Islamabad.

In 2021, as many as 65 positive environmental samples were detected in the country.

Meanwhile, Minister for National Health Services Abdul Qadir Patel said there is unprecedented support and commitment to eradicating polio from Pakistan.

He said the target is the complete eradication of the virus from the country and the government was fully committed to achieving all targets with the support of local communities and front-line workers. "Reaching every child during polio campaigns and strengthening the routine immunization system is the top priority of the government," he added.