Pakistan has reported its ninth polio case of 2026 after a seven-month-old child tested positive in Khyber district, with genetic evidence linking the virus to strains circulating in neighbouring Afghanistan, health officials confirmed on Thursday. According to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication, the infected child belongs to Union Council Mastak in Bara tehsil of Khyber district.
This is the third polio case reported from the district and the seventh from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year, while Sindh has recorded two cases. Officials said genetic analysis of poliovirus detected in all three cases reported from Khyber district this year showed links with strains circulating in Afghanistan, highlighting the continued threat of cross-border transmission between the two countries.
Pakistan and Afghanistan remain the only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus transmission has never been interrupted. Frequent population movements across the border, inaccessible communities, security challenges and gaps in childhood vaccination continue to complicate eradication efforts.
Health officials said the genetic links with Afghanistan demonstrated the need for closer coordination between the two countries, particularly in border districts where population movement increases the risk of virus transmission. However, experts cautioned that cross-border transmission was not the only challenge facing Pakistan.
Continued local circulation of poliovirus, children missed during vaccination campaigns and inadequate immunity in vulnerable communities also contribute to the persistence of the disease. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly identified Pakistan and Afghanistan as a single epidemiological block for polio eradication, stressing that transmission in either country poses risks to the other.
WHO has also raised concerns over restrictions affecting house-to-house vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, particularly in southern provinces, where vaccination activities have largely been conducted at designated sites rather than through household visits. Such arrangements can leave children unvaccinated, particularly infants and those living in remote communities, increasing the risk of continued poliovirus transmission.
In Pakistan, environmental surveillance has detected poliovirus in sewage samples from the Peshawar block, including Peshawar and Khyber districts, indicating that the virus continues to circulate despite repeated vaccination campaigns. According to official figures, Pakistan reported 74 polio cases in 2024 and 31 in 2025.
The number has declined to nine so far this year, including seven from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh. Officials said the decline in reported cases was encouraging but warned that the continued detection of poliovirus in children and environmental samples showed that the threat had not been eliminated.
Meanwhile, the government is conducting a seven-day polio vaccination campaign from November 2 to 8, targeting approximately 24 million children under five years of age across 97 districts. Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has urged parents to ensure that every eligible child receives the oral polio vaccine during the campaign, regardless of previous vaccination history, to ensure the country remains on track toward complete eradication.