With one more poliovirus case, Pakistan's tally reaches 18 in 2025

Peshawar, Aug 1 (PTI) A new case of poliovirus was detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province taking the total number across Pakistan this year to 18, authorities said Friday.

The latest case was confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad earlier in the day.

NIH reports confirm that the virus was detected in a 10-month-old child from Union Council Molazai in the Tank district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

This is the 11th confirmed case of polio in the province in 2025, raising renewed concerns over the ongoing efforts to eradicate the virus.

With Friday's confirmation, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has risen to 18. Apart from the 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five are from Sindh, and one each is from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.

A special vaccination campaign was held from July 21-27 in the bordering area of the province and Baluchistan to coincide with Afghanistan’s sub-national polio campaign.

Despite substantial progress in polio eradication efforts, the continued detection of polio cases underscores the persistent risk to children, especially in areas where vaccine acceptance remained low, a statement from the NIH said.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. PTI AYZ NPK NPK