ISLAMABAD: According to official reports on Wednesday, a 30-month-old boy from Pishin, Balochistan, contracted the poliovirus, increasing the country’s total polio cases this year to 22.
This little child from Pishin also became the fifteenth person in Balochistan to contract the illness this year, following six cases from Qila Abdullah in the province, two from Quetta, and one each from Dera Bugti, Chaman, Jhal Magsi, Zhob, Qila Saifullah, and Kharan.
While Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Islamabad have each reported one case thus far, Sindh has documented four cases.
Balochistan is now the focus of the current polio outbreak due to the number of infections.
The child, who attends Union Council Cadet College in District Pishin, has been confirmed by the National Institute of Health to have wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI).
