Pakistan has a new polio case this week, according to the weekly report from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), while healthcare workers in Gaza have completed the first week of a massive vaccination campaign in the war-torn region.
In Pakistan, one wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) case was recorded in Islamabad, and 15 WPV1-positive environmental samples were reported in Balochistan, Sindh, Punjab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The GPEI also noted a new case of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Maindombe, the tenth such case reported this year.
In Gaza, vaccines have been administered for 10 days following the first section of the virus in 25 years in the region earlier this summer.
New report shows Pakistan not interrupting transmission
In a new study in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, authors published an overview of recent polio activity in Pakistan. From January 2023 to June 2024, officials recorded 14 WPV1 cases, compared with 21 WPV1 cases during January 2022 to June 2023.
Though cases are fewer, detections in the past 18 months suggest widespread transmission, because they have appeared in historical polio reservoirs in Balochistan and Sindh provinces.
“Despite the occurrence of only a single confirmed WPV1 case during the first half of 2023, Pakistan experienced widespread circulation of WPV1 over the subsequent 12 months, specifically in the historical reservoirs of the cities of Karachi, Peshawar, and Quetta,” the authors wrote.
Despite the occurrence of only a single confirmed WPV1 case during the first half of 2023, Pakistan experienced widespread circulation of WPV1 over the subsequent 12 months,
They added, “These cases, along with more than 300 WPV1-positive environmental surveillance (sewage) samples reported during 2023–2024, indicate that Pakistan is not on track to interrupt WPV1 transmission.”
