Polio Cases in 2024 Reach 71 with New Infection in Jacobabad
Polio Cases in 2024 Reach 71 with New Infection in Jacobabad
Pakistan’s National Institute of Health has reported the country’s 71st occurrence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) for 2024.
The most recent case involved a male child from Jacobabad and was documented on January 14, with symptoms commencing on December 27, 2024. The regional laboratory responsible for polio eradication has validated the case, increasing the overall count of polio incidents in Jacobabad this year to five.
This detection underscores a continued resurgence of the disease, with 71 cases observed in 2024. Among the reported cases, 27 were from Balochistan, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh each recorded 21 cases, along with one case each from Punjab and Islamabad. Health officials persist in emphasizing the critical nature of vaccination to avert further outbreaks. Polio is a crippling disease with no known cure, which makes it essential for children to receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) for adequate immunity.
Pakistan’s Polio Program has been executing nationwide vaccination drives to address the resurgence. The upcoming nationwide campaign is scheduled for February 3-9, 2025, with authorities urging parents to immunize all children under five. The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) also offers complimentary vaccinations against 12 childhood illnesses at health facilities nationwide.
Previously, Pakistan reported its initial polio case of 2025, involving a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) who was confirmed to have contracted the virus. Recently, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) declared polio vaccination compulsory for travelers from Pakistan and several other nations. In a statement, GACA indicated that passengers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mozambique must present a valid polio vaccination certificate upon entering the Kingdom.
The authority specified that passengers merely transiting through these countries for less than 12 hours without leaving the airport’s transit zone would be exempt from this requirement.
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