Polio virus detected in environmental samples in parts of Pakistan

The virus was detected from sewage water in the southern port city of Karachi, and Chaman district of the southwestern Balochistan province, the ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The presence of the virus is a threat to every child, particularly children below five years of age, who could get a lifelong physical disability from it, the statement added.

The surveillance system of the polio program is very strong, and the government is ensuring effective measures to eradicate polio, said the statement.

The health ministry said that an integrated strategy has been formulated in high-risk areas of polio, and the parents must get the polio vaccine administered to their children during every polio immunization campaign to defeat the disease in the country.

(With UNI inputs)