Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], November 28 : A seventh polio case was reported in Dera Ismail Khan district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, taking the total tally to 56 for the current year, Dawn reported.
According to Dawn, Pakistan along with Afghanistan remains the last two countries in the world where Polio remains endemic.
According to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), the polio case was confirmed by The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at Islamabad's National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Wednesday.
Balochistan has reported the most number of cases, 26, following KP which has reported 15 polio cases so far with 7 from Dera Ismail Khan, while 13 cases have been reported from Sindh.
Earlier on November 24, three polio cases were reported from Dera Ismail Khan and Zhob and Jaffarabad in Balochistan, the report said, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) of Pakistan,
The affected children are two girls from Dera Ismail Khan and Zhob, and a boy from Jaffarabad, adding that this year, six polio cases have been reported from southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone.
Notably, the recent rise in polio cases in Pakistan has sparked concerns for international organizations.
According to sources, international organisations have called on Pakistan to implement emergency measures. Sources revealed that Pakistan has assured them of taking swift action to control polio.
Earlier, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad confirmed the detection of the 48th Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) case in Pakistan.
On November 8, the lab confirmed the detection of WPV1 in a male child from the DI Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. DI Khan is among the polio-endemic districts in southern KP.