By Syed Tauqeer Zaidi
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Pakistan has confirmed its 31st polio case of 2025, health officials reported on Tuesday, involving a four-month-old girl from Union Council Spinwam-2 in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Laboratory tests conducted by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad detected wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in samples collected from the child, who developed symptoms in December. According to the NIH, the infection underscores the ongoing vulnerability of children in areas where routine immunization campaigns face obstacles.
Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has remained the most affected region, accounting for more than half of Pakistan’s cases this year, with 17 of the 31 infections reported from the area. Last year, health authorities recorded 20 cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nine in Sindh, and one each in Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
