Pakistan Reports Ninth Polio Case of 2026 as Seven-Month-Old Boy Infected in Khyber

A new Pakistan polio case has been confirmed in Khyber district, taking the country’s tally for 2026 to nine. The National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said the poliovirus paralysed a seven-month-old boy from the Mastak union council of Bara tehsil, the third case from Khyber district this year and the seventh from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The remaining two cases of 2026 were reported from Sindh. According to the NEOC, the virus found in all three Khyber cases is genetically linked to Afghanistan, which has recorded 50 cases this year, a sign that the virus keeps moving across the border with people travelling between the two countries.

Pakistan Polio Case Count: Where the Nine Cases Came From

The NEOC said overall transmission of wild poliovirus has gone down this year, but the Peshawar block, made up of Khyber and Peshawar districts along the Afghan border, and the nearby southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are still reporting detections. Pakistan recorded 31 cases in 2025, so the 2026 count so far is far lower, but every new case shows that the virus has not been stopped. Each Pakistan polio case also triggers a fresh review of vaccination coverage in the affected area.

Vaccination Campaign Running Until November 8

The new case was confirmed while a door-to-door vaccination drive is under way in 97 districts, including Khyber. The campaign targets nearly 24 million children under the age of five and runs until November 8. Officials said more than 19.6 million children were vaccinated in the first three days. The drive is being held in Pakistan and Afghanistan at the same time, and the NEOC urged parents on both sides of the border to make sure every child gets the drops, saying the poliovirus knows no borders.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also asked the provinces to prepare a coordinated polio eradication plan within a week, as the government tries to close the remaining gaps in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh.

How Polio Spreads and Why Every Dose Matters

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that mainly hits children under five. It spreads through the faecal-oral route: the virus passes out in the stool of an infected child and reaches other children through contaminated water, food or hands. Most infected children show no symptoms at all, which is why the virus can travel quietly through a community. About one in 200 infections causes irreversible paralysis, usually of the legs, and some paralysed patients die when their breathing muscles stop working.

• No cure: polio cannot be cured once a child is paralysed; it can only be prevented.
• Repeated doses: the oral vaccine has to be given many times, in every campaign, to build full protection.
• Routine immunisation: campaign drops do not replace the routine vaccines given at health centres.
• Clean water: safe drinking water and good sanitation cut the spread of the virus.

How the Pakistan Polio Case Affects You

For parents, the message from this Pakistan polio case is simple: open the door to vaccination teams and make sure every child under five gets the drops, even if the child was vaccinated before or is unwell. Families travelling between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Afghanistan and big cities should check that their children are fully vaccinated.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries in the world where wild poliovirus is still endemic. Until transmission stops in both, children everywhere remain at risk.

What Happens Next After the Latest Pakistan Polio Case

Health teams will carry out a case investigation in Bara and nearby union councils, and a mop-up campaign around the infected child’s home is expected. Environmental sewage samples from Peshawar, Khyber and southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will show whether the virus is still spreading after the November drive. The provinces are also expected to send their eradication plans to the federal government in the coming days.

For official updates, visit the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme website.

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