ISLAMABAD, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Pakistan has confirmed two new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), bringing the total number of infections in the country this year to 21, health authorities said Monday.
According to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, the new cases were detected in Kohistan District, northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, and Badin District, southern Sindh province.
So far in 2025, KP has reported 13 cases, Sindh has reported six, while eastern Punjab and the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region have each recorded one case.
Authorities said Pakistan will hold a sub-national polio campaign from Sept. 1 to 7 to vaccinate over 28 million children under five in 99 districts, urging parents to ensure multiple doses of oral vaccine for protection against the incurable, potentially paralyzing disease.
Pakistan and its neighboring country Afghanistan remain the only two countries where wild poliovirus is still endemic. ■