ISLAMABAD, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A wild poliovirus has been detected in an environmental sample of Pakistan's northwestern Peshawar city, the Pakistani Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The virus has been detected in a sewage sample collected from Naray Khuwar area on July 4 and "is genetically linked to poliovirus in circulation in neighboring Afghanistan," the ministry said in a statement.
"It is imperative that parents and caregivers get their children vaccinated in all polio campaigns and ensure that their routine immunizations are also complete for stronger immunity," Pakistani Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel was quoted as saying in a statement.
The minister added that the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program is in close coordination with the Afghanistan Polio Eradication Program and the two countries are working together at all levels to curb cross-border transmission.
This is the fifth positive environmental sample collected from Peshawar this year and the fourth consecutive from this site, the statement said.
Pakistan has reported only one polio case this year and 12 positive environmental samples, according to the ministry. ■