KARACHI: A new case of polio has been detected in Sindh, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 20. The case was reported in UC Seehar, Larkana district, confirmed Sindh’s Emergency Operation Centre for Polio on Saturday.
The victim is an 82-month-old (almost seven years) girl who was tested after she developed weakness in her left arm and leg. According to her parents, she had received multiple OPV doses during polio drives but was not routinely immunised.
“Sindh had successful campaigns from December 2019 to March 2020 which had gone a long way to put the polio programme on track,” says the spokesperson for EOC Sindh. However, the programme was halted when the COVID-19 pandemic began.
The EOC is planning a small-scale outbreak response campaign in Karachi from July 20 and a larger campaign across Sindh in August.
Pakistan has reported 58 wild poliovirus cases so far this year. The breakdown is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 21, Sindh 20, Balochistan 14 and three in Punjab. Islamabad, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan have not reported any cases.
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