The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, has confirmed presence of poliovirus in environmental sample from Lahore, which is genetically linked to virus in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The NIH declared presence of Wild polio virus type-1 (WPV-1) in environmental sample collected from Outfall Fall Road Drains – part of Ravi Town and Data Town – in Lahore.
The sewage sample was collected on August 15, 2023. The investigators found the trace of virus importation from Afghanistan. The investigations further revealed that this is first importation from Kandahar province and 13th importation from Afghanistan in total this year.
The presence of poliovirus in Lahore’s environmental sample has been found to be 99.6 percent genetically linked to the virus cluster earlier detected in an environmental sample in Southern Region of Kandahar province, Afghanistan, in May this year.
This was third environmental sample from Lahore that came out positive this year. Earlier in January, two samples from Lahore had tested positive which were found genetically linked to South Waziristan and Afghanistan respectively.
“The positive samples in Lahore and Rawalpindi indicate that the virus is circulating in the region. Even if one case has been identified, it’s alarming for all the children”, reiterated Khizer Afzaal Ch, Emergency Operations Centre Coordinator and head of the polio programme in Punjab, in a statement on Thursday.
