Pakistan has confirmed its first polio case of 2026, detected in a four-year-old boy from Bello Union Council in Sujawal District, Sindh, according to the Pakistan National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication. The infection has been verified through the country’s surveillance network and the Regional Reference Laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.
The case involves wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), a highly contagious strain that continues to pose a public health threat, especially in core reservoirs such as Sindh. Last year, Pakistan reported 31 polio cases, highlighting ongoing challenges in vaccination coverage and surveillance. Authorities have announced immediate response measures to prevent further transmission.
Pakistan conducts multiple nationwide immunization campaigns each year, deploying over 400,000 health workers to vaccinate approximately 45 million children under five through door-to-door drives. The most recent campaign in February 2026 targeted children across 159 districts, yet gaps in vaccination coverage continue to allow the virus to persist in certain communities.
Earlier this year, polio was also detected in sewage samples across Pakistan, with dozens testing positive. Contamination was most prominent in Sindh, but positive detections were also recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Balochistan. No virus was found in samples from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Authorities stress the importance of urgent containment measures and public cooperation in vaccination drives to halt the spread of WPV1. Health officials have called on parents to ensure that all children under five are vaccinated, especially in high-risk areas, to prevent further outbreaks.
Also read: Final Countrywide Polio Immunization Drive of 2025 Starts Tomorrow
