Islamabad, Oct 6 (IANS): Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication (NEOC) has said that the sixth polio case has been reported in the country in 2026, local media reported.
According to the statement from NEOC, the affected child was a seven-year-old boy from Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan-based daily Dawn reported.
It said that five of six polio cases have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2026. The fresh polio case has been reported less than a week after the fifth case of 2026 was reported on September 29.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic. Polio workers in Pakistan have been frequently targeted in attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
On September 22, two police personnel guarding polio workers were killed by armed assailants in Noshki district of the Balochistan province.
Noshki City Station House Officer (SHO) Munawar Zaman said that armed assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on police personnel guarding a team of female polio workers who were inoculating children during the week-long vaccination drive, Dawn reported.
The polio team and its members were not hurt in the attack. The gunmen fled from the spot after taking the official weapons of police personnel. After the attack, the authorities suspended the anti-polio campaign in the area.
On May 24, a police official deployed with the polio vaccination team was seriously injured in a firing incident near the Ishaqzai Qila area of Chaman district in Pakistan’s Balochistan province. However, the members of the polio team were not hurt in the attack.
On May 18, at least two police personnel escorting polio vaccination teams were killed in separate incidents in Bajaur district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan-based Geo News reported.
Unidentified assailants attacked the polio vaccination teams in Tabbai and Dag Qila regions of Salarzai, according to a senior police official.
