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3 clusters · 9 sources · 40 days · First seen · Last updated

Polio virus circulation in Pakistan

Overview

In late August 2026, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) reported a resurgence of the polio virus in environmental sewage samples across several regions in Pakistan, including Karachi, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab.

By mid-September 2026, Pakistan confirmed its fourth polio case of the year, involving an eight-month-old child in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Health officials noted that three of the four cases reported in 2026 emerged from the Bannu Division, citing security-related access constraints as a factor preventing consistent vaccination coverage in certain areas since 2025.

On September 29, 2026, a fifth case was reported in the Bannu district, involving a 17-month-old girl. This brought the total for the year to five cases, with four of those five cases located within the Bannu Division. Despite these new infections, officials noted a broader downward trend in transmission, with reported cases falling from 74 in 2024 to 31 in 2025.

A nationwide door-to-door vaccination campaign, scheduled to run from September 21 to 27, concluded with more than 28.2 million children receiving oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops across 112 districts. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to total eradication.

Entities

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · Bannu · Pakistan · Pakistan Polio Programme · National Emergency Operations Centre

Timeline

  1. [HEALTH] 3 sources
    Pakistan reports fifth polio case of 2026 in Bannu

    Pakistan has reported its fifth polio case of 2026, involving a 17-month-old girl in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

  2. [HEALTH] 4 sources
    Pakistan reports fourth polio case of 2026 in Bannu

    Pakistan reports its fourth polio case of 2026 in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, citing security constraints as a barrier to consistent childhood vaccination efforts.

  3. [HEALTH] 2 sources
    Polio virus detected in sewage samples across Karachi districts

    Polio virus has been detected in sewage samples from six districts in Karachi and several other regions across Pakistan, including parts of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Sources

abbtakk.tv · dailymeezan.com · dailytimes.com.pk · dnanews.com.pk · en.dailypakistan.com.pk · islamabadpost.com.pk · namibiadailynews.info · urdu.arynews.tv · urdu.voiceofsindh.com.pk

This summary has been updated 1 time: see revision history