Pakistan’s polio crisis deepens: Eighth confirmed case of 2026 emerges from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The latest case was reported from Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, involving a 13-month-old girl from Union Council Janbaz-B in Bara tehsil, Dawn News reported, citing the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme (PPEP).

“This is the second case reported from Khyber District this year — and the sixth from KP province — underscoring that no child will be safe from polio until all children are consistently vaccinated and protected across the country,” the PPEP said in a statement, according to Dawn News.

Although overall wild poliovirus transmission has declined this year, the Peshawar Block, which comprises Khyber and Peshawar districts, has reported positive environmental detections, indicating continued virus circulation and a persistent risk to children’s health, the newspaper reported.

What is polio?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), poliomyelitis, commonly known as polio, is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily affects children under five years of age.

The virus spreads from person to person, mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, through contaminated food or water. It multiplies in the intestine and can subsequently invade the nervous system, potentially causing paralysis.

Wild poliovirus cases have declined by more than 99% since 1988, when an estimated 350,000 cases were reported across more than 125 endemic countries, the WHO said.

Of the three strains of wild poliovirus — types 1, 2 and 3 — type 2 was eradicated in 1999, while type 3 was declared eradicated in 2020.

As of 2022, Pakistan and Afghanistan remained the only countries where wild poliovirus type 1 was endemic.