Shehbaz Sharif convenes emergency meeting after polio case re-emerges in Pakistan

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday convened a meeting of the National Task Force on Polio after the first case of the viral disease was detected in 15 months.

Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep concern about the emergence of one polio case in the country, saying that many polio workers lost their lives in this fight.

"Deeply concerned at the emergence of one polio case in the country. Eradication of polio was a great achievement made possible through sustained efforts. Many polio workers lost their lives in this fight. I have convened a meeting of the National Task Force on Polio for stock-take!" Shehbaz Sharif tweeted.

Pakistan detected the country's first case of polio after over a year, with the paralysis of a 15-month-old boy in the country's North Waziristan area, according to reports citing authorities.

A senior Pakistan Health official in a series of Tweets announced the discovery of the wild polio case on Friday, saying a 15-month-old boy had been paralysed by the virus in the northwestern district of North Waziristan.

"Deeply saddened to share that a 15-month-old boy has been paralyzed in North Waziristan, Southern KP, as #Pakistan confirms a wild #poliovirus case after nearly 15 months," Dr Shahzad Baig, a coordinator with the National Emergency Operations Centre for Pakistan's polio eradication programme said in a Tweet.

"The Pakistan Polio Programme traces and hunts down the virus wherever it may be harbouring. This case is both tragic, while at the same time, not entirely unexpected, after positive virus samples appeared in the environment in South KP late last year," he said.

Pakistan is one of two countries, alongside neighbouring Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic, although case numbers have dropped drastically in recent years.

Pakistan remains under a polio-linked travel restriction imposed by the World Health Organisation. Residents from infected areas should receive an additional dose of OPV or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) within 4 weeks to 12 months of travel.

( With inputs from ANI )