Daily Dusk , March 5, 2026 -Islamabad — Pakistan has reported its first case of polio in 2026 after a four-year-old child tested positive for the virus in Bello Union Council of Sujawal District, health authorities confirmed on Thursday.
According to the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, the case was detected through the national polio surveillance system and later confirmed by the National Institute of Health laboratory in Islamabad.
Health officials said polio remains a highly infectious disease that can cause permanent paralysis. They stressed that repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine remain the only effective protection for children under five years of age.
The centre said the Polio Eradication Initiative is analysing the situation and planning a response
to prevent further spread of the virus.
Officials noted that Pakistan has made significant progress in reducing polio cases. Since 1994, the number of cases has dropped by 99.8 percent, from around 20,000 cases in the early 1990s to 31 reported in 2025.
Earlier this year, a nationwide vaccination campaign was carried out to immunise more than 45 million children, with another campaign scheduled for April. In 2025, the programme conducted five nationwide vaccination drives along with targeted campaigns and routine immunisation activities.
Despite progress, authorities said the virus continues to circulate in certain high-risk areas, particularly in districts of Sindh and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan remains one of the last two countries in the world where polio is still endemic, alongside Afghanistan.
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