Wild poliovirus outbreak in Afghanistan: A wake-up call for global health experts

The resurgence of wild poliovirus in Pakistan and Afghanistan: A new setback for polio eradication

“…The southern part of KPK province bordering Afghanistan had been marked as the area at high risk after the identification of two wild polioviruses in the environmental samples in the last quarter of 2021 from D.I Khan and Bannu Districts [4] . Similarly, one case of wild poliovirus was reported in a 24-Month-old female child in Afghanistan in February 2022 in the Dila District of Paktika province [5] which is 126km from the Waziristan area of Pakistan Fig 1 . We fear that more children from the same area may be affected as the virus circulate in the upcoming peak season.…”