New polio case surfaces in Bannu

ISLAMABAD (APP): A new polio case has surfaced in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) has confirmed.

This is the third polio case reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the eighth in Pakistan so far this year.

The second nationwide polio campaign of the year from April 21 to 27 is currently under way to vaccinate 45.4 million children under the age of five.

This will be followed by another nationwide campaign from May 26 to June 1.

The programme has made an urgent appeal to parents to ensure children receive repeated doses of the polio vaccine to protect them from the crippling disease.

On April 23, two Levies Force officials were martyred and another wounded when unidentified attackers opened fire on security personnel assigned to protect a polio vaccination team in the Tiri area of Mastung.

The martyred officials were identified as Naik Muhammad and Maqsood Ahmed. Both were shifted to Nawab Ghaus Bakhsh Raisani Memorial Hospital.