The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday announced the discovery of a new case of the wild poliovirus in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Torghar district, raising the nationwide tally for this year to 30.
In a statement, the NIH said the latest case was detected in a 12-month-old boy from Ghari union council of Torghar. It said this was the second case of poliovirus discovered in the district thus far this year. “With this detection, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has reached 30—19 from KP, nine from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan,” it added.
According to the statement, the Pakistan Polio Program collected 127 sewage samples across 87 districts of the country in September. Of these, 81 samples tested negative for poliovirus, while 44 were positive and two are currently under process in the laboratory.
The polio program’s report said Balochistan had 21 negative samples and two positive; Punjab 22 negative, 8 positive and one under process; KP 24 negative and 10 positive; Sindh seven negative, 21 positive and one under process. Islamabad reported four negative and one positive; Azad Jammu and Kashmir reported three negative; and Gilgit-Baltistan reported one negative and one positive.
“While the overall trend indicates a decline in positive detections, reflecting the impact of recent high-quality vaccination campaigns, virus circulation persists in certain high-risk areas. These detections highlight the continued need for strong, targeted efforts to interrupt transmission,” emphasized the statement.
Last year, Pakistan reported 71 poliovirus cases, with the virus detected in around 90 districts of the country. A highly infectious and incurable disease, polio can cause lifelong paralysis. Pakistan is one just two countries, along with Afghanistan, where the virus remains endemic.