With one more poliovirus case, Pakistan's tally reaches 18 in 2025
Peshawar, Aug 1 (PTI): A new case of poliovirus was detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province taking the total number across Pakistan this year to 18, authorities said Friday.
The latest case was confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad earlier in the day.
NIH reports confirm that the virus was detected in a 10-month-old child from Union Council Molazai in the Tank district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
This is the 11th confirmed case of polio in the province in 2025, raising renewed concerns over the ongoing efforts to eradicate the virus.
With Friday's confirmation, the total number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2025 has risen to 18. Apart from the 11 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five are from Sindh, and one each is from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan.
A special vaccination campaign was held from July 21-27 in the bordering area of the province and Baluchistan to coincide with Afghanistan’s sub-national polio campaign.
Despite substantial progress in polio eradication efforts, the continued detection of polio cases underscores the persistent risk to children, especially in areas where vaccine acceptance remained low, a statement from the NIH said.
Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic.
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Two girls injured in separate wolf attacks in UP's Bahraich
Bahraich (UP) (PTI): Two minor girls were injured in separate incidents of wolf attacks in the Bahraich district, forest department officials said on Saturday.
In the first incident on Friday, Anushka Nishad (5), daughter of Baliram from Mallahanpurwa village, was sleeping alone inside her house when a wolf entered and tried to carry her away, they said.
Hearing her screams, family members and villagers rushed to the spot. The wolf left the child, hearing the commotion, and ran towards the fields. The girl sustained minor injuries from the animal's teeth, the officials said.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav described the attack as deliberate and cleverly planned, as it occurred precisely when Anushka's mother went out for a few moments.
On the same day, Nancy (4), daughter of Kamlesh Yadav, was playing outside her house in Baburi Tola village when a wolf suddenly attacked and dragged her away.
Villagers raised an alarm, and the wolf released the child and ran towards the sugarcane fields. The injured child was sent to the Kaiserganj Community Health Centre for treatment.
Divisional Forest Officer Ram Singh Yadav told reporters that both attacks involved wolves, adding that the entire area is plagued by the animal's activity.
Since September 9, such attacks in the Bahraich district have claimed 10 lives, including eight children and an elderly couple, and injured dozens of people, the officials said.
District Magistrate Akshay Tripathi met the families of the victims on Friday and consoled them.
