Pakistan: 2024 Polio

[Shiloh]

Source: https://toronto.citynews.ca/2024/01...gn-kills-6-officers-wounds-10-in-nw-pakistan/

Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for bomb that killed 6 police guarding anti-polio campaign
By Anwarullah Khan, The Associated Press
Posted January 8, 2024 2:11 am.

Last Updated January 8, 2024 3:42 am.

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — A roadside bomb exploded Monday near a van carrying police assigned to protect workers in an anti-polio immunization campaign in restive northwestern Pakistan, killing at least six officers and wounding 10 others, officials said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The bombing happened in the former Pakistani Taliban stronghold of Mamund in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, police official Kashif Zulfiquar said.

He said some of the wounded officers were in critical condition at a government hospital.​..

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2444516/pakistan


Senior anti-polio program official killed, policeman injured in northwest Pakistan gun attack

Updated 19 January 2024
REHMAT MEHSUD
January 19, 2024 15:26

The attack took place in the northwestern Bajaur tribal district that borders Afghanistan, according to the police
Earlier this month, five policemen were killed after a blast targeted a protection team for security of vaccinators

PESHAWAR: A senior official of the polio eradication program was killed and a policeman wounded in a gun attack in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, officials said on Friday.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on the vehicle of Dr. Abdul Rehman, focal person for the polio eradication program in the Bajaur tribal district, in the district’s Loi Mamund town, when he was leaving for duty at a local hospital, according to Zareef Khan, a senior police officer in Bajaur.

The attack left Dr. Rehman and a police official, Ilyas Khan, wounded. The anti-polio program official, who was critically injured, was immediately shifted to the provincial capital of Peshawar.​..
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[Shiloh]

Source: https://dailytimes.com.pk/1178731/polio-virus-detected-in-sewage-samples-across-pakistan/

Polio virus detected in sewage samples across Pakistan
inp
March 13, 2024

The Ministry of Health has confirmed the presence of the poliovirus in sewage lines spanning the four provinces of Pakistan. Twelve districts across the country have tested positive for polio in sewage samples, as revealed in a technical report received by the Ministry of Health. This brings the total number of polio-positive sewage samples for the current year to 46.

Polio testing samples were collected from 11 cities between February 13 and 20. Among the confirmed cases, sewage from the Urban Environmental Site of Okara, Orangi Nala in Karachi Kemari, Muhammad Khan Colony in Karachi, and Haji Murid Goth in Karachi Central were found to be infected with the poliovirus. Additionally, sewage samples from cities including Karachi, Okara, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Jacobabad, Islamabad, Kohat, Quetta, Peshawar, and Sibi have also tested positive for polio.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.24newshd.tv/14-Mar-2024/pakistan-reports-first-polio-case-of-2024

Pakistan reports first polio case of 2024
By News Desk
March 14, 2024 08:27 PM​

Pakistan s first polio case of the year 2024 has been reported from Balochistan’s Dera Bugti.

According to a spokesman for the National Ministry for Health, the poliovirus was found in a two-and-a-half-year-old child from Dera Bugti.

The samples from the child were collected on February 22 and tested at the National Institute of Health

The polio-affected child belonged to Union Council No. 3 UC of Sui, Dera Bugti. The polio virus in the child is genetically related to Quetta.

“The affected child had received polio vaccination seven times in the routine immunization campaigns,” the sources said.​..

 

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://arynews.tv/pakistan-reports-second-polio-case-of-2024/

Pakistan reports second polio case of 2024
By Manzoor Ahmed
| March 15, 2024

QUETTA: Pakistan has reported the second polio case of 2024, ARY News reported on Friday, citing Health Official.

The second case of crippling disease of polio was reported in Chaman’s Mir Ali Zai area where a four-year-old boy was confirmed with the disease.

Earlier on Thursday, a spokesman for the National Ministry for Health said first polio case of 2024 in Pakistan was reported in Dera Bugti. A two-and-a-half-year-old child from Dera Bugti was confirmed with the poliovirus.

The polio-affected child belonged to Union Council No. 3 UC of Sui, Dera Bugti. The sources at the National Institute of Health said that the polio virus in the child is genetically related to Quetta.​..

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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/20...accine-to-their-kids-during-nationwide-drive/

April 13, 2024
Over 63,000 parents refuse polio vaccine to their kids during nationwide drive
By Staff Report​

ISLAMABAD: The national fight for polio eradication faces a renewed challenge as a recent national anti-polio campaign encountered resistance from a significant number of parents.

According to media reports, over 63,000 parents across Pakistan refused to vaccinate their children during the campaign with a significant majority from the province of Sindh.

The breakdown of the refusal rates by province is as follows: 38,749 parents in Sindh declined the drops, followed by 20,392 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and 4,081 in Balochistan.

Additionally, 175 parents in Punjab, 75 in Islamabad, and 24 in Azad Kashmir also chose not to administer the polio drops to their children.

The national anti-polio campaign, which aimed to vaccinate children across the country, was conducted from February 26 to March 15.

In a parallel development, the Ministry of Health has disclosed that the polio virus has been detected in environmental samples from eight cities. Specifically, the virus was identified in 12 sewage samples, including one case of wild polio virus and three YBA cluster cases.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...icer-assigned-protect-polio-workers-109779581

Gunmen kill a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in northwest Pakistan
Pakistani police say gunmen have fatally shot a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in the northwest
ByThe Associated Press
April 30, 2024, 7:15 AM

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Gunmen fatally shot a police officer assigned to protect polio workers in Pakistan’s northwest, an official said Tuesday.

At least 10 police have died this year while on security duty for vaccination campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The gunmen fired at a team working in Bajaur district, killing the officer on the spot, police officer Dilawar Khan said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.​..
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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1838772

Year’s fifth polio case confirmed 17 days after victim’s death
Ikram Junaidi Published June 9, 2024 Updated about 16 hours ago


ISLAMABAD: The fifth polio case of the year was reported from Quetta on Saturday, 17 days after the victim’s death, underscoring a significant lapse in surveillance and escalating the risk of transmission at a crucial juncture in the polio eradication campaign.

The case with onset of paralysis on April 29 was confirmed on June 8, a six-week delay, underscoring a notable lapse in diagnosis. As the high transmission season approaches, the anti-polio programme leadership faces a major challenge in containing the spread of polio.

According to an official at the Regional Reference Laboratory of National Institute of Health (NIH), the latest victim was a two-year-old boy who passed away before the confirmation of the poliovirus, which took six weeks instead of the usual three weeks for diagnosis. The deceased was a resident of UC Tameer-i-Nau, Ganj Bypass, Quetta.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://english.aaj.tv/news/330364495/attacks-on-polio-teams-in-kp-have-killed-15-policemen-so-far

Attacks on polio teams in KP have killed 15 policemen so far
A total of 36 policemen have been injured this year as well
web-desk Web Desk
09 Jun, 2024​

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has released a report detailing 15 attacks on polio vaccination teams in the province this year, resulting in the deaths of 13 police officers and injuries to 36 others.

According to the report, the majority of the attacks occurred in Bannu (4), Bajaur (3), and Tank (3), while single attacks were reported in Khyber, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, North Waziristan, and South Waziristan.

The CTD report highlights the severity of the situation in Bajaur, where nine police officers were killed and 30 injured due to attacks on polio teams. In Bannu, two officers were killed and three injured, while one officer each was killed in South Waziristan and Tank.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.science.org/content/article/wild-poliovirus-spreads-across-pakistan-and-afghanistan


Wild poliovirus spreads across Pakistan and Afghanistan
Wastewater detections suggest 2024 target of ending all wild virus transmission will be missed
13 Jun 20248:00 AM ETByLeslie Roberts​

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) has been struggling in Africa with large outbreaks spawned by the polio vaccine itself, which is made of live but weakened poliovirus. But the program at least had the wild virus on the run, driving down the cases it causes in its last strongholds, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now, GPEI is facing a devastating setback on that front, too.

In 2021 and 2022, through intensive vaccination campaigns, GPEI pulled off what its independent monitoring board (IMB) called a “remarkable achievement.” It cleared the wild virus from the teeming megacity of Karachi, Pakistan, which has long been a source of reinfection for the rest of the country. For more than 2 years, Karachi saw no paralytic polio cases, and extensive surveillance of wastewater turned up no sign of the wild virus.

The virus also disappeared from Pakistan’s two additional historic “reservoirs”: areas around Quetta in the southwestern province of Balochistan, and Peshawar in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), both near the long, porous border with Afghanistan. The virus was cornered in just seven districts of southern KP and a few in the East region of northern Afghanistan—the smallest geographic area in the history of the eradication program, according to a GPEI advisory group.​

But now, wastewater samples reveal the virus is back in Karachi and around Quetta and Peshawar, likely brought by people from those holdout districts. As of early June, the virus had spread to about 40 districts in Pakistan. It had also returned to Kandahar in the South region of Afghanistan. The number of paralytic polio cases remains relatively low because much of the population has been immunized—so far this year there have been five in each country. But plenty of virus is circulating, ready to strike any unvaccinated or undervaccinated child. GPEI’s already-delayed goal of stopping all transmission of the wild virus this year is looking increasingly elusive.

The current epidemiology is “alarming,” says Natalia Molodecky, who worked with GPEI in Pakistan’s polio emergency operations center in Islamabad and is now a consultant for the Task Force for Global Health in Atlanta. “We are seeing continuous detections [of the wild virus] in Karachi, and we are seeing a lot more transmission across the country.”​...

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1203406-poliovirus-diagnosed-in-toddler-from-balochistan

Poliovirus diagnosed in toddler from Balochistan
This is the fifth poliovirus case from the province in 2024, while one has been reported from Sindh
By M Waqar Bhatti & Rashid Saeed
June 25, 2024

​QUETTA: An 18-month-old toddler from Balochistan's Qilla Abdullah district was Tuesday diagnosed with poliovirus, the provincial health department told Geo News.

According to the Balochistan's health department, this is the fifth poliovirus case from the province.

The number of the virus's cases from Pakistan in 2024 stand at six with five from the country's southern-west province and one from Sindh.

Meanwhile, it was the second such case reported from the Qilla Abdullah district.

Earlier, cases of the virus from the province were also reported from Dera Bugti, Chaman, and Quetta.

According to the technical summary of the case, the child had a high grade fever on June 1, 2024, and developed weakness in the right leg on June 3, 2024, as per the parents.

It added that the onset was sudden and progressed quickly.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://borneobulletin.com.bn/pakistan-reports-two-more-polio-cases/
Pakistan reports two more polio cases
June 30, 2024


ISLAMABAD (XINHUA) – Two more children tested positive for the poliovirus in Pakistan, taking the number of infected kids to eight in the country, the National Institute of Health (NIH) said on Friday.

According to the NIH’s regional reference laboratory for polio eradication, the virus was detected in samples collected from a two-year-old child and a three-year-old child from the country’s Balochistan and Sindh provinces respectively.

Both children have been paralysed, and the virus isolated from samples taken from them is genetically linked to the YB3A cluster, which has been detected in all positive cases and environmental samples reported this year, the NIH said.​...

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Source: https://www.app.com.pk/domestic/15-attacks-made-on-polio-teams-this-year-report/

15 attacks made on Polio teams this year: Report

PESHAWAR, Jun 30 (APP):The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) has issued a report confirming that there were 15 attacks on polio teams this year.
Giving details of the attack, the officials of the CTD said that there were 15 attacks on polio teams this year including 4 attacks in Bannu, three attacks each on Polio teams in Bajaur and Tank and one attack each on Polio teams were reported in Khyber, Lakki Marwat, Mardan, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://arynews.tv/pakistan-reports-ninth-polio-case-of-2024/

Pakistan reports ninth polio case of 2024
By Web Desk
| July 20, 2024​

QUETTA: The polio virus has been detected in 18-month-old boy in the Zhob district of Balochistan, taking the total number of reported polio cases in the country to nine in 2024, ARY News reported.

According to the detail, the child in the Hassan Zai Urban area of Zhob district was diagnosed with polio virus, with symptoms appearing on June 28.

PM’s Coordinator on Health Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed said that the genetic testing of the virus is still underway.

He confirmed that so far nine children in the country have been affected by polio in the current, with seven cases reported only from Balochistan.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1849749

Two more children paralysed by poliovirus in Balochistan
Ikram Junaidi Published August 3, 2024 Updated about 6 hours ago


ISLAMABAD: Two more children have been paralysed by poliovirus in Balochistan, taking the tally for the current year up to 11.

Officials of the Polio Programme have blamed protests and insecurity in Balochistan for the rising number of polio cases as these matters have disrupted polio campaigns in several districts of the province, exposing children to crippling disease...


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[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/12...pens-as-new-case-takes-pakistan-s-total-to-12

Polio crisis deepens as new case takes Pakistan’s total to 12
A three-year-old child from Jhal Magsi and a 1.5-year-old child from Killa Abdullah have been paralysed by virus
By M Waqar Bhatti
August 04, 2024

​ISLAMABAD: A day after two more children were found affected by the poliovirus in Balochistan, a six-year-old boy in the Chakwal district of Punjab has been paralysed by the Wild Poliovirus 1, raising the total polio cases to 12 in Pakistan this year, officials said on Saturday.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in the stool specimen from a 75-month-old male child from District Chakwal of Punjab province. The child had onset of paralysis on July 16, 2024,” an official in the national Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) told The News.

This is the first polio case from District Chakwal and the Punjab province, and the 12th case in Pakistan this year (nine cases reported from Balochistan province, two from Sindh province, and one from Punjab province), the official said, adding that the genetic sequencing of the case is in process.

Earlier on Saturday, national PEI officials had confirmed the detection of two new cases from the Jhal Magsi and Killa Abdullah districts in Balochistan, raising the total polio cases in Balochistan to nine.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1850838/border-district-reports-fifth-polio-case-this-year

Border district Qila Abdullah reports fifth polio case this year
Ikram Junaidi | Saleem Shahid Published August 8, 2024 Updated about 18 hours ago


ISLAMABAD / QUETTA: A fifth case of polio has been reported from a district near the Afghan border, taking the number of polio victims detected in Balochistan to 10, out of a total of 13 reported from across Pakistan this year.

The latest victim is an 11-month-old infant from Qila Abdullah who has been paralysed by the wild poliovirus. The case highlights the persistent threat of polio and the urgency for communities to ensure polio vaccination of all under-five children living among them.

In addition to the five cases reported from Qila Abdullah district, the other five cases of Balochistan have been found in Chaman, Quetta, Zhob, Dera Bugti and Jhal Magsi, whereas three cases — two from Sindh and one from Punjab — have been confirmed from the rest of the country.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://arynews.tv/pakistan-reports-14th-polio-case-of-2024/

Pakistan reports 14th polio case of 2024
By Web Desk
| August 9, 2024

ISLAMABAD: Another polio case emerged in Pakistan as a 20-month-old boy has been confirmed to be infected with the virus, ARY News reported citing the National Institute of Health (NIH) sources.

The sources said that the affected child belonged to the Kila Saifullah district of Balochistan.

This is the 14th polio case that has been reported in Pakistan so far this year out of which 11 emerged from Balochistan alone.

The child is affected with Wild Polio Virus Type 1 and he showed polio symptoms on July 22. The National Institute of Health sources said that the genetic relationship of the polio virus in the affected child is being investigated.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://tribune.com.pk/story/2489757/polio-claims-life-of-23-month-old-in-balochistans-kharan

Polio claims life of 23-month-old in Balochistan’s Kharan
This is the 12th polio case in Balochistan and the 15th in Pakistan in 2024.
News Desk August 21, 2024

A 23 month old girl from Kharan district in Balochistan has died after contracting wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), health officials reported on Tuesday.

This marks the 12th polio case in Balochistan and the 15th in Pakistan for 2024.

The child, who was from Union Council South City-A in Kharan, developed a high-grade fever and paralysis in her lower limbs and neck muscles on 31 July 2024.

Her family initially sought treatment from a local healthcare provider before taking her to a private hospital on 7 August, where she was identified as an Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) case.​..
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