Pakistan confirms detection of wild poliovirus in environmental sample

Islamabad, May 14 (IANS) Pakistani Health Ministry has confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus in an environmental sample from South Waziristan district in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

The wild poliovirus type 1 was isolated from a sewage sample collected from the Qureshi Mohalla area of the district on April 19, the Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The virus is genetically linked to poliovirus found in a sewage sample collected from the same district in September 2022, it added.

The Pakistan Polio Eradication Program is conducting tests for poliovirus at 114 fixed environmental sites in the country every month, said the statement as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

"To further enhance surveillance in high-risk areas, it has also been collecting additional sewage samples from multiple sites in southern KP periodically, and this latest detection is from one such collection site," according to the Ministry.

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