Pakistan reports two new polio cases

Islamabad, May 1 (PTI) Pakistan reported two polio cases on Friday, taking the tally of infections for the ongoing year to three and serving a blow to the national efforts to eradicate the crippling disease.

The new cases were detected in Bannu and North Waziristan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the Taliban militants often target officials administering anti-polio vaccines to the children.

“Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) has confirmed two new cases of wild poliovirus,” according to an official statement.

It said that the two new cases were reported through the poliovirus surveillance network and confirmed by the WHO-accredited Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National

Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.

According to the statement, overall poliovirus transmission in the country has been declining, with cases falling from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025 and three so far in 2026, reflecting the impact of high-quality vaccination drives.

“These detections underscore the continued need for robust and targeted efforts to interrupt transmission and the importance of consistent vaccination for children everywhere in the country. No child in Pakistan will be safe until every child is safe,” it added.

Pakistan has been struggling to eradicate the deadly virus, which paralyses the victims for life.

It has already implemented two nationwide polio campaigns in 2026 that protected approximately 45 million children, while the next campaign is planned in May to immunize nearly 19 million children.

Since the launch of Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Initiative in 1994, Pakistan has reduced polio cases by 99.8% – from 20,000 estimated cases in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025. But the challenge exists, and it is the only country other than Afghanistan where poliovirus is still rampant. PTI SH ZH ZH