Pakistan’s polio tally rises to nine after Khyber case

Pakistan has confirmed its ninth polio case of 2026 after the virus was detected in a seven-month-old boy from Mastak union council in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district. The National Emergency Operations Centre said the new infection is the district’s third case this year and the seventh reported across the province.

The national total now comprises seven cases from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh. The latest confirmation follows an eighth case announced on November 1 involving a 13-month-old girl from Janbaz-B union council in Bara tehsil, also in Khyber district.

Health authorities said the poliovirus found in all three Khyber district cases has genetic links with strains circulating in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has recorded 50 cases this year, and the linkage points to continued cross-border transmission in communities situated around a frequently travelled frontier.

The emergency centre said overall wild-poliovirus transmission has declined during 2026, but the Peshawar block remains a significant area of concern. The block includes the adjoining districts of Peshawar and Khyber, while virus detections have also continued in neighbouring areas of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A door-to-door vaccination drive is currently under way in 97 selected districts, including Khyber. The campaign aims to administer oral polio vaccine to nearly 24 million children under five and is being conducted alongside a vaccination round in Afghanistan to strengthen coordinated cross-border protection.

Officials urged parents and caregivers to ensure that every eligible child receives polio drops during the ongoing campaign, even if the child has been vaccinated previously. Multiple doses are necessary to maintain protection in areas where the virus continues to circulate, while completion of routine childhood immunisation remains equally important.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that has no cure and can cause irreversible paralysis. Vaccination can prevent the disease, but missed children and gaps in population immunity allow the virus to survive and spread through communities, particularly in areas facing population movement and access difficulties.

Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only countries where wild poliovirus is endemic. The emergency centre said the new case demonstrates that transmission cannot be eliminated without consistently reaching every child, and it called on communities, health workers and local leaders to support vaccination teams during the current campaign.