Pakistan reports polio case to take year's count to 13
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[July 23, 2022]
By Saud Mehsud and Jibran Ahmad
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) -
Pakistan's polio count for the year has risen to 13 with one case
reported on Friday as the South Asian nation looks to contain a disease
mostly eradicated elsewhere, officials said |
![](../images/072322PIX/news_k65.jpg)
A girl receives polio vaccine drops, during an anti-polio campaign, in a
low-income neighborhood as the spread of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) continues, in Karachi, Pakistan July 20, 2020. REUTERS/Akhtar
Soomro |
The
latest case was found in the northwest province of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and involved an 18-month-old boy reported to be
undernourished, the health ministry said in a statement.
The previous 12 were reported from North Waziristan district
which in the past was a lawless area mainly under the control of
Pakistani Taliban before military operations were launched
against the group in 2014.
“This is the first polio case reported from outside of North
Waziristan district where vaccinators were still facing serious
challenges in reaching out to children due to resistance from
local religious leaders and unwilling parents,” provincial
health department officials told Reuters.
Last month, a vaccination official along and two policemen on
security duty were shot dead during a polio inoculation drive in
KP province.
“This case puts the Wild Polio case count for endemic countries
at 14, with 13 cases from Pakistan between April and June 2022
and one case from Afghanistan in January,” the ministry said.
(Writing by Syed Raza Hassan; editing by Jason Neely)
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