KARACHI — Pakistan’s fight against polio has suffered a setback in the country’s largest city. The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication confirmed on Monday that a six-month-old boy from Karachi East has tested positive for wild poliovirus, the first Karachi polio case in almost two years.
The child belongs to Union Council Jamali Colony in Karachi East, and laboratory testing confirmed the presence of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1). The case was detected through the national polio surveillance network and verified by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institutes of Health in Islamabad. Health officials said the child was malnourished.
Karachi’s last reported polio case was in December 2024 — meaning the city had gone nearly two years without a confirmed infection before this latest Karachi polio case. Officials say the development is a reminder that the virus is still circulating in the environment even where no paralytic cases have been reported for months.
Karachi Polio Case Confirmed in Karachi East
According to the NEOC, the Karachi polio case was picked up by Pakistan’s routine surveillance of children presenting with symptoms of acute flaccid paralysis. The six-month-old boy from Jamali Colony was confirmed positive for wild poliovirus type 1 after the sample was analysed at the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institutes of Health in Islamabad.
Health officials noted that the child was malnourished, a condition that can weaken a young child’s ability to fight off infections and underlines why repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine, alongside good nutrition, are so important in the first years of life. The NEOC has not released the child’s name, and no identifying details beyond the officially stated facts have been made public.
Pakistan Polio Cases 2026: Tally Reaches Seven
This is Pakistan’s seventh confirmed polio case of 2026. Five of the cases this year have come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — four of them in the province’s southern districts — while two have now been reported from Sindh. Pakistan recorded 31 polio cases in 2025, of which 20 were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, so the current tally represents a marked reduction from last year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic. Afghanistan has reported 36 polio cases this year, a figure health experts say keeps the entire region at risk because of cross-border movement. The long-term trend, however, remains positive: polio cases in Pakistan are down 99.8 per cent from roughly 20,000 a year in the early 1990s, when mass immunisation campaigns began.
Wastewater Signals: Polio in Pakistan 2026 Never Left Karachi
While the confirmed Karachi polio case is the city’s first in nearly two years, officials say it does not mean the virus had disappeared. Environmental surveillance — the testing of wastewater for poliovirus — has continued to show positive detections in Karachi throughout 2026, including one sampling site that tested positive in September.
Health experts say environmental positives are a warning light: they show the virus is still moving silently through communities, mostly in children who do not develop paralysis. When immunity levels in a neighbourhood fall — because children missed vaccination rounds or new unvaccinated children moved into the area — the virus can find the most vulnerable, as it has now in this Karachi polio case.
Polio Vaccination Campaign November 2026: What’s Next
Pakistan has run four large-scale polio vaccination campaigns so far in 2026, protecting more than 45 million children across the country. A subnational campaign held in September protected over 29.3 million children. The next nationwide polio vaccination campaign November 2026 is scheduled from 2 to 8 November, and it will target around 24 million children in 97 districts — including all districts of Karachi.
Officials say the November round will sharpen its focus in the city, with special attention on areas where environmental surveillance has flagged the virus and on communities where children have repeatedly been missed.
NEOC Polio Message: Vaccination Is the Only Protection
The NEOC polio messaging is unambiguous: polio is incurable and can cause irreversible paralysis or death, and vaccination is the only prevention. Parents are being asked to ensure their children receive polio drops in every campaign and to complete their routine immunisation on schedule, because a single missed round can leave a child exposed.
Officials also underlined the role of frontline workers, religious leaders, communities and the media in the eradication effort. Repeated door-to-door campaigns succeed only when communities trust the teams at their gates, and rumours about the vaccine remain one of the biggest obstacles in areas where children are repeatedly missed.
For Karachi, the message from this latest Karachi polio case is sobering but clear: the city’s polio-free stretch was hard-won and can be recovered — but only if every child under five gets the drops in November’s campaign.
In short: Karachi has confirmed its first polio case since December 2024 — a malnourished six-month-old boy from Jamali Colony in Karachi East who tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1. It is Pakistan’s seventh polio case of 2026 (five in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two in Sindh), and wastewater testing shows the virus has been circulating in Karachi all year. With a nationwide polio vaccination campaign set for 2–8 November 2026 covering all Karachi districts, the NEOC is urging parents to ensure their children get the drops in every round, because polio is incurable and vaccination is the only protection.
Related Posts
Pakistan NewsMuizzu Departs Malé as Historic State Visit to Pakistan Begins
Pakistan NewsField Marshal Asim Munir Due in Tehran Today as Pakistan Steps Up Mediation Role
Pakistan NewsPakistan Govt Buildings Glow Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness | Pinktober 2026
Pakistan NewsGilgit-Baltistan Assembly Passes Local Government Act 2026, Clearing Way for First Local Polls in Over 20 Years
Pakistan NewsKarachi Temperature to Stay Above Normal in November, Says Met Office
Pakistan NewsAsim Munir Tehran Visit: Pakistan Army Chief Heads to Iran on TuesdayMost Popular
How-ToPTA Tax Calculator 2026: Check Mobile Tax on Any Phone138 views
Canada JobsTech Jobs in Canada: Roles, Salaries, and Skills Needed115 views
TechnologyTecno Mobile Prices in Pakistan 2026: Spark, Camon and Pova Series Compared108 views
TechnologyRedmi K100 Launching on 28 October: 10,000mAh Battery, 185Hz Display and Full Specs104 views
ShowbizWomen’s Fashion in Pakistan 2026: Trends, Brands and Style Guide97 views
BISPPunjab Driving License Scam Alert: Fake Websites & “Without Test” Fraud | UrduPro93 views
