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       ISLAMABAD: Two new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) have been confirmed in Pakistan.

       The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the Natio-nal Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of cases in Kambar, Sindh, and Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab.

       “This is the third polio case from Sindh and the first from Punjab this year, bringing the total number of cases in 2025 to five,” a lab official told Dawn.

       The three previous cases in 2025 were reported in Sindh’s Badin and Larkana districts and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district.

       Last year, 74 cases of WPV1 were reported all over the country.

       Of these, 27 were from Balochistan, 23 from Sindh, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

       Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2025