Karachi reports first polio case since Dec 2024 as Pakistan's tally reaches seven

A six-month-old boy from Karachi’s East district has tested positive for poliovirus, taking Pakistan’s tally to seven cases this year, according to the National Emergency Operation Centre (NEOC).

The child, from Jamali Colony union council, was identified through the country’s polio surveillance network. The National Institutes of Health’s Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication confirmed the infection in Islamabad, according to an NEOC statement.

The child was malnourished and contracted the virus amid its continued circulation in Karachi, the polio programme said.

The case is the first reported in Karachi since December 2024, according to a programme official.

Although the city experienced widespread poliovirus circulation over the past two years, targeted door-to-door vaccination drives and improvements in routine immunisation have helped reduce transmission, the NEOC said.

Only one environmental surveillance site in Karachi tested positive for poliovirus in September. However, officials warned that children remained vulnerable while the virus continued to circulate.

The programme stressed the importance of vaccination in protecting children against the potentially paralysing disease.