Pakistani health officials are testing over 300 suspected polio cases at the National Institutes of Health in Islamabad, which could make the country’s polio case count go up. As of April 29, Pakistan has reported 22 confirmed cases of wild poliovirus 1 (WPV-1) this year-nine are from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, six from Federally Administered Tribal Areas, four from Sindh and three cases from Balochistan.
The more than 300 suspect cases are suffering from acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), a condition characterized by a sudden onset of weakness of muscles and loss of muscle tone, according to an Express Tribune report.
Under the conditions of anonymity, one health official said, “I cannot say for sure from which areas the samples were collected from, but I can confirm that the number is more than 300.”
There has been 23 total WPV-1 cases reported so far in 2015, the other case reported in Afghanistan.
The third remaining polio endemic country of Nigeria has not reported a WPV-1 case in 10 months. The most recent case had onset of paralysis on 24 July in Sumaila Local Government Area (LGA), southern Kano state.
