ISLAMABAD — The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed a new case of wild poliovirus (WPV1) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Torghar district, bringing Pakistan’s total polio cases in 2025 to 30.
The newly infected child, a 12-month-old boy from Union Council Ghari in Torghar, marks the district’s second case this year. Of the total cases, 19 have been reported from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
According to the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC), the National Polio Eradication Campaign has successfully administered drops to over 43.7 million children across Pakistan during the first six days of its latest campaign.
Senator Ayesha Raza Farooq, the Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, urged public cooperation, saying:
“Protecting children from polio is a shared responsibility. I appeal to all parents and caregivers to open their doors to vaccinators and ensure their children receive the lifesaving drops that guard them against a lifelong, paralyzing disease.”
The ongoing campaign in southern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa began on October 20 and will conclude on October 23.
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Environmental Surveillance
In September, Pakistan’s polio programme collected 127 sewage samples from 87 districts as part of its environmental monitoring network. Of these, 81 were negative, 44 tested positive for poliovirus, and two are under process.
Breakdown by region shows:
- Balochistan: 21 negative, 2 positive
- Punjab: 22 negative, 8 positive, 1 under process
- Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: 24 negative, 10 positive
- Sindh: 7 negative, 21 positive, 1 under process
- Islamabad: 4 negative, 1 positive
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 3 negative
- Gilgit-Baltistan: 1 negative, 1 positive
While overall detections have declined, persistent virus circulation in certain high-risk areas continues to pose a challenge.
Since last week, @WHO, along with partners, has mobilized over 400,000 vaccinators to support @GovtofPakistan in the ongoing campaign to protect 45M children from paralytic polio.These frontliners have been key to reduce polio cases by 99.6% since 1994.Together we can #EndPolio pic.twitter.com/1PravmXepx
— WHO Pakistan (@WHOPakistan) October 20, 2025
Nationwide Coverage
The latest nationwide campaign saw widespread participation:
- Punjab: over 23 million children vaccinated
- Sindh: over 10.4 million
- Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa: over 6.1 million
- Balochistan: around 2.58 million
- Islamabad: 466,000
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir: 733,000
- Gilgit-Baltistan: 294,000
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the campaign’s performance as “satisfactory,” highlighting marked improvements in reaching previously missed children.
Ongoing Threat
Authorities warn that the resurgence of polio, coupled with widespread flooding and disruptions to sanitation systems, has created conditions conducive to the virus’s spread. Displacement and stagnant water in flood-hit areas have heightened the risk of transmission.
Polio remains an incurable yet preventable disease. Repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) are essential to fully protect every child under five years old.
Since the launch of Pakistan’s Polio Eradication Initiative in 1994, annual cases have dropped by over 99%—from around 20,000 a year to just 74 in 2024 and 30 so far this year.
