A new case of polio has been confirmed in Loralai, marking the first polio case in the district and the 21st in Balochistan. This latest case brings the total number of polio cases in Pakistan this year to 40.
The confirmation came from the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad, where the Regional Reference Laboratory for polio eradication verified the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in a 30-month-old child from Dara Adam Khel, Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This is the second polio case reported by the Kohat district this year.
So far, 21 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, 6 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.