LAHORE, Jan 20 (FD): The first environmental samples from Lahore of 2023 confirmed the existence of poliovirus in the provincial capital.
In the first month of 2023, poliovirus has been confirmed in the environmental samples collected in the Punjab capital, prompting the authorities to start a vaccination campaign in 26 union councils.
According to a statement, the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed the detection of Type-1 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) in an environmental sample collected from District Lahore (Gulshan Ravi ES site) in January 2023.
“This is the first positive environmental sample from Pakistan this year,” the statement added.
Last year, 37 positive environmental samples were detected from all over the country.
Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel has said the year’s first polio campaign was going on successfully.
“We are determined to eradicate the virus from the country,” he said as he requested parents to cooperate with the polio teams.
The sewage samples are important in detecting the virus’ prevalence in the country. If the virus is found in samples collected from any area, it is called positive. These samples are a basic parameter to determine the success of polio campaigns.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where the virus was still endemic.
