WorldPakistan
Six-month-old boy in Karachi takes Pakistan's polio count to seven
The case in Karachi East is the city's first reported since December 2024. A nationwide vaccination drive aimed at nearly 2.4 crore children begins on 2 November.
Key points
- A six-month-old boy in Jamali Colony, Karachi East, has been confirmed with polio.
- Pakistan has recorded seven cases this year, against 31 in 2025.
- The next campaign runs 2 to 8 November across 97 districts, including all of Karachi.
A six-month-old boy from Karachi has been diagnosed with polio, Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Centre said on Monday, taking the country’s total for the year to seven and marking the first case reported from the city since December 2024.
The child lives in the Jamali Colony union council of Karachi East. The virus was picked up through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
The Polio Eradication Initiative said it was “analysing the best science-based response to tackle and prevent further transmission.”
Pakistan recorded 31 cases in 2025, so this year’s count is well down, but the new case shows the virus is still reaching children in the country’s largest city, more than a year and a half after Karachi’s last reported case.
The centre did not say whether the boy had received any vaccine doses before he fell ill, or what follow-up vaccination is planned around his neighbourhood ahead of the national drive.
Four large-scale campaigns this year have reached out to more than 4.5 crore children, and a subnational drive in September vaccinated over 2.93 crore. The next campaign runs from 2 to 8 November and will target nearly 2.4 crore children in 97 districts, including every district of Karachi.