Afghanistan confirmed its fourth case of the year of the polio virus in its province of Nangarhar on Thursday, months after the country’s interim government launched a vaccination campaign against the virus.
According to the Afghan Ministry of Health, the vaccination campaign, which began about two months ago, was aimed at providing jobs to more than nine million children under the age of five.
A four-year-old child is reported to be suffering from the crippling virus, officials said.
To date, five cases of the polio virus have been identified in Afghanistan and Pakistan this year, officials said, adding that “the same virus that infected the child in the Afghan province is also coming to Pakistan.”
“Specimens from Peshawar Hangu, Lahore and samples from Nangarhar province have been found to be similar,” the officials added.
Polio has been virtually eradicated from the world.
However, it has not been completely eradicated due to inaccessible areas in parts of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, mass migration and suspicions of foreign interference that hamper eradication efforts.
In May, the virus was detected in an 11-year-old girl in the same Afghan province, making it the second polio case of the year in Afghanistan and the third worldwide, according to officials at the National Polio Laboratory. Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad.
According to Khama PressA total of 56 cases of polio were reported in the country in 2020, while four cases were reported in 2021. Two cases of polio were reported last year.
The virus is endemic in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where militants have attacked anti-polio teams.