DI Khan: In a concerning development, Pakistan confirmed another case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) for 2024, taking the total tally of the country to 72.

  According to the health officials, the latest case involves a girl from Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The samples from the affected girl were taken on December 31, 2024.  This confirmation marks the 11th reported polio case from DI Khan, underscoring ongoing challenges in the fight against the disease despite repeated mass vaccination drives. A day earlier, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed 71st case in Sindh’s Jacobabad. The national tally for WPV1 cases in 2024 now stands at 72, with Balochistan reporting the highest number at 27 cases, followed by 21 each from Sindh, 22 from KP, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. Health officials stressed that polio remains a paralysing disease with no known cure, emphasising the critical need for vaccination. “Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine immunisation schedule for children under five are essential to building immunity against this devastating virus,” a senior health official said.