ISLAMABAD, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's first sample of wild poliovirus in 2023 has been detected in an environmental sample in Lahore, capital of the country's eastern Punjab province, the Pakistani Health Ministry said.
The virus found in a sewage sample of the Gulshan Ravi area of the city has links to a poliovirus found last November in Afghanistan's eastern Nangarhar province, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pakistani Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are together in their fight against polio.
"While the isolation of the virus is a cause of concern, it is excellent to note that it was detected promptly. This timely detection of the virus in the environment is crucial to protecting children from being paralyzed by the poliovirus," the minister was quoted as saying in a statement.
The last polio case from Lahore was diagnosed in July 2020, but the virus has been periodically detected in its sewage water, the statement said.
Last year, four environmental samples were found positive for wild poliovirus in Lahore, according to the ministry. ■