Wild polio virus has been found in three more sewage samples in Pakistan, taking the total of positive samples in the country in 2023 to 115.
The Pakistani Health Ministry disclosed this on Tuesday.
The virus was found in an environmental sample collected from Rawalpindi city of the eastern Punjab province on Dec. 11, in one sample from federal capital Islamabad on Dec. 12.
Another one was from the southern port city of Karachi on Dec. 13, the ministry said in a statement.
The detection of the virus meant that children remained at constant risk from the disability-causing disease, Pakistani caretaker Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Nadeem Jan was quoted as saying in the statement.
“This virus targets vulnerable children, especially those with weak immunity and can cause irreversible paralysis,” he added.
According to the World Health Organisation, Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world along with its neighbour, Afghanistan.
Pakistan had reported six polio cases in 2023, said the health ministry.
