News Desk:
The number of poliovirus cases reached six in Pakistan on Friday after two polio cases were reported from the country’s volatile North Waziristan area. All six poliovirus cases have been reported from the erstwhile FATA.
The two recent cases have been confirmed by the Pakistan National Polio Laboratory at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, and have left a young boy and girl paralyzed. Both children are 18-month-old and belong to Mir Ali Tehsil.
The female child had an onset of paralysis on May 10 and the male child a day later on May 11. The cases have been reported when a countrywide anti-polio campaign is underway.
“These children will struggle for the rest of their lives because of the pain of disabilities caused by polio. I urge the people of Pakistan to vaccinate their children,” said Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel.
Fortunately, no polio case has been reported from any part of Balochistan for more than a year.
