These new detections bring a total of 115 positive environmental samples to Pakistan in 2023.
![Representative image of laboratory testing. —who/file](https://www.geo.tv/assets/uploads/updates/2024-01-16/527163_6456265_updates.jpg)
- By 2023, the number of positive sewage samples will increase to 115.
- Samples collected from Sohrab Goth, Karachi.
- The number of human polio cases remains at six.
ISLAMABAD: Three environmental (sewage) samples from three major cities, including Karachi, have tested positive for polio virus, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Islamabad has confirmed.
news quoted officials as saying the samples were collected in December 2023 and tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in eastern Karachi, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
In Karachi East, environmental samples were collected at the Sohrab Goth environmental sample collection site on December 13, 2023, the 14th positive sample in District East this year.
The previous 13 positive samples were collected in May, September, October, November and December, and the isolated viruses were classified into the YB3A cluster, with 99.44% being genetically related to viruses detected in environmental samples from the same district. The official said there is. (i.e. Karachi East) on 13 November 2023.
In Islamabad, environmental samples were collected from Sabzi Mandi environmental sample collection site on December 12, 2023, making it the second positive sample in Islamabad district in 2023.
The previous positive sample was collected on December 11, 2023, and the isolated virus is classified as YB3A cluster and is 99.6% genetically related to the virus detected in an environmental sample in Peshawar on December 6, 2023, the official said. .
In Rawalpindi, environmental samples were collected at Dhok Dalal environmental sample collection site on December 11, 2023, which is the fourth positive sample in Rawalpindi district in 2023.
The previous three positive samples were collected on July 17, August 10, and October 2, 2023, and the isolated viruses are classified into the YB3A cluster and 99.6% are similar to the virus detected in environmental samples in Peshawar in December. Totally connected, he added. June 6, 2023.
These new findings bring the total number of positive environmental (sewage) samples in Pakistan in 2023 to 115. Moreover, the number of polio cases in Pakistan in 2023 remained at six.