NIH confirms presence of poliovirus in Lahore

LAHORE: Despite repeated polio vaccination campaigns, Lahore has not become a polio free city as the presence of the virus has been detected in different environmental samples taken from Lahore’s Outfall Road and Gulshan-e-Ravi Disposal Station during November.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed the presence of poliovirus in the provincial capital.

The presence of the virus in the city for the last two years poses a serious threat to the health of children.

On the other hand, another countrywide anti-polio campaign is going to kick off on December 15.

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A day earlier, it was reported that poliovirus had been detected in 10 out of 12 environmental samples collected from Karachi’s sewerage system last month.

This prompted Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to order an intensified and strictly monitored eradication campaign across the province.

Presiding over a meeting of the provincial polio task force at his office on Tuesday, the chief minister voiced serious concern over environmental surveillance results showing widespread threat of the virus in Karachi and other divisions.

Surveillance data for November indicated that 10 of 12 sampling sites in Karachi and 11 of 17 sites in other districts tested positive. Calling the situation ‘alarming and unacceptable’, the CM demanded a high-quality, coordinated and disciplined vaccination efforts to curb further spread of the virus.