Poliovirus found in nine environmental samples

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Health has confirmed the presence of poliovirus in environmental samples from nine districts of the country.

According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, the virus was found in one sample each from Quetta, Mastung, Multan, Peshawar, Nowshera, and Hab.

The Poliovirus was also found in samples from Karachi Malir, Karachi South and D.I.Khan. He said that the virus found in all the samples was from across the border.

He said that the only way to prevent transmission of the virus is the polio vaccine, adding children can be protected from disability by vaccination against polio. He added parents must give the polio vaccine to their children under five years of age.

A nationwide anti-polio drive of varied duration has begun to administer vaccine drops to children under five years of age.

During the campaign, Polio teams of the health department will go door to door in all 159 districts of the country.

In Punjab, during a week-long polio campaign over twenty-three million children will be administered polio drops.

The health department has declared Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan as the most sensitive cities in this regard.

In Sindh, nearly 10.03 million children up to five years of age will be administered anti-polio vaccine drops during a week-long campaign.