A six-month-old boy in Karachi East has been diagnosed with polio, the first Karachi polio case in nearly two years, the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication (NEOC) said on Monday. The child is the seventh polio case Pakistan has recorded in 2026, and the NEOC said it signals a return of the disease to the city after a long gap.
How the case was found
The child is from Union Council Jamali Colony. The case 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 NEOC said the last case from Karachi had been reported in December 2024, a gap that explains why the announcement has renewed calls for vaccination.
Polio is a highly contagious disease that can cause permanent paralysis and, in some cases, death. There is no cure, but vaccination prevents it. The NEOC has launched a comprehensive investigation into the case.
Cases across Pakistan and the vaccination push
Of the seven cases recorded this year, five are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four of them in the province's southern districts, and two are in Sindh. The NEOC said Pakistan recorded 31 cases in 2025, down from an estimated 20,000 cases in the early 1990s. It also said Karachi has continued to report environmental detections of wild poliovirus throughout 2026, which keeps the risk to children alive.
Pakistan has held four nationwide vaccination campaigns in 2026, reaching more than 45 million children, some of them several times. Targeted oral and injectable doses have also been given in high-risk areas. The Polio Eradication Initiative is assessing the response, including targeted vaccination and steps to strengthen routine immunisation. The next campaign is scheduled for November 2-8 and aims to protect nearly 24 million children across 97 districts, including all Karachi districts.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Early 1990s: Pakistan's polio cases are estimated at about 20,000.
- December 2024: the last polio case before this one was reported from Karachi, according to the NEOC.
- 2025: Pakistan recorded 31 polio cases.
- September 2026: a subnational campaign vaccinated more than 29.3 million children.
- Monday: the NEOC announced the Karachi East case, Pakistan's seventh of 2026.
- November 2-8: next nationwide campaign, scheduled to cover all Karachi districts.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Karachi East mein chhe mahine ke ek bache mein polio ka case mila hai, jo shehar mein December 2024 ke baad pehla case hai. Pakistan mein 2026 mein ab tak saat case report hue hain, jin mein paanch Khyber Pakhtunkhwa mein hain. NEOC ne parents se appeal ki hai ke panch saal se kam umar ke har bache ko har campaign mein polio ke qatray dilwayen. Agla campaign 2 se 8 November ko hai, is liye apne bachon ka vaccination card abhi check karein.
