Pakistan’s National Institute of Health has confirmed the country’s 71st case of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) for 2024.
The latest case, involving a male child from Jacobabad, was reported on January 14 and symptoms began on December 27, 2024.
The regional reference laboratory for polio eradication confirmed the case, taking the total number of polio cases in Jacobabad this year to five. The detection highlights a continued resurgence of the disease, with 71 cases reported in 2024.
Of the reported cases, 27 were from Balochistan, 21 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 from Sindh and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. Health authorities continue to highlight the importance of vaccination to prevent new outbreaks.
Polio remains a debilitating disease with no cure, so it is critical that children receive multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to achieve immunity.
Pakistan’s Polio Program has been carrying out nationwide vaccination campaigns to combat the resurgence. The next nationwide campaign is scheduled for February 3-9, 2025, and authorities are urging parents to ensure that all children under five are vaccinated.
The Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) also offers free vaccines against 12 childhood diseases in health centers throughout the country.
Earlier, Pakistan reported its first polio case in 2025, with a 13-month-old girl from Tank district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) confirmed to have contracted the virus.
A few days ago, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) announced that polio vaccination is mandatory for travelers from Pakistan and several other countries.
In a statement, GACA specified that passengers from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique must present a valid polio vaccination certificate upon entering the Kingdom.
The authority clarified that passengers who transit through these countries for less than 12 hours without leaving the airport transit zone would be exempt from the requirement.
