WHO finds presence of polio virus in samples collected in Karachi

KARACHI: Sewage samples collected from gutters of 11 sampling sites in the metropolis have confirmed prevalence of polio virus in Karachi, citing sources ARY News reported on Saturday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) had collected samples in Karachi to assess prevalence of the crippling virus in the city.

According to sources, the samples were collected from gutters in Karachi during the period from April 05 to May 16.

The WHO gathered samples from 11 localities in the city to examine the situation of polio virus.

The samples were collected from sampling sites of Hijrat Colony, Machhar Colony, Khameso Goth, Rashid Minhas Road, Korangi, Bakhtawar Village Landhi, Haji Mureed Goth, Sohrab Goth, Mohammad Khan Colony, Orangi Nallah, Orangi Colony and PIDC Colony.

The samples collected from all areas confirmed presence of the polio virus in sewage water, sources further said.

A six month-old child tested positive for the polio virus recently, raising the total number of reported cases of the crippling disease in Karachi this year to two, the third case in Sindh province and the 17th case of the country in the current year.

The extensive environmental surveillance established by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme in previous months detected the polio virus in sewage of twelve cities.

According to result shared by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), the presence of virus was confirmed in sewage samples collected in March 2019 from cities of Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Mardan, Bannu, Waziristan, Hyderabad, Kambar and Sukkur.