KARACHI: The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) confirmed on Monday that a polio case has been reported in Karachi's East district, taking Pakistan's nationwide tally of the crippling disease to seven for 2026, Geo News reported.
Key points
- The new case was reported in Karachi's East district
- Karachi's previous case was reported in December 2024
- Five of this year's cases are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh
- A national vaccination campaign will run from November 2 to 8 in 97 districts
First Karachi case in almost two years
The country's largest city had last reported a polio case in December 2024, according to the report. NEOC figures show five of this year's seven cases have come from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh.
Nationwide drive in November
The NEOC said a national anti-polio campaign will run from November 2 to 8, 2026, across 97 districts, aiming to give vaccine drops to more than 23.9 million children.
It urged parents to have their children vaccinated in every campaign and to complete routine immunisation on time, stressing that polio has no cure and vaccination is the only protection.
Last year's picture
Geo News said Pakistan recorded 31 polio cases in 2025, 20 of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where wild poliovirus transmission continues.
More on Geo News.