KARACHI: The Pakistan Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) has identified the presence of Wild Poliovirus Type-1 (WPV1) in environmental samples from Peshawar and Sibi.
According to media reports a PEI official said that the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health Islamabad has confirmed the detection of WPV1 in sewage samples from districts Sibi and Peshawar.
In Sibi district, a sample collected from the ‘Main Ghanda Nala’ environmental collection site on January 15 tested positive, marking the first such occurrence since the site’s establishment in December 2022. The detected virus belongs to the YB3A cluster and shares a genetic similarity of 99.66% with the virus found in an environmental sample from Quetta.
Similarly, in Peshawar, an environmental sample was collected on January 22 from the ‘Yousafabad and Tajabad Tributary of Naray Khuwar’, representing the third positive sample from Peshawar in 2024. The isolated virus also belongs to the YB3A cluster. This latest detection brings the total number of positive environmental samples in 2024 to 30.
