PESHAWAR – Pakistan on Wednesday reported its first polio case of the year 2025 as a 13-month-old girl contracted the disease in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The minor had developed symptoms of the paralyzing disease on November 25 and now it has been confirmed that she is infected Wild poliovirus type 1.
Pakistan reported 68 polio cases in 2024 with 21 from KP, 27 from Balochistan, 19 from Sindh while Punjab and Islamabad recorded one case each last year.
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It affects the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours.
The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (for example, contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness of the neck and pain in the limbs.
In December, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif launched the last polio eradication drive of the year 2024 by administering anti-polio vaccine to children.
Addressing the launching ceremony in Islamabad, he expressed the commitment to eradicate the poliovirus from Pakistan with the help of provincial governments and the international partners.
The prime minister urged the parents to ensure vaccination of their children to protect them from polio.
