QUICK TAKE | Why Can’t Pakistan Shake Off Polio? Seven Things to Know

1. Why does wild polio still circulate in Pakistan?

The virus keeps finding pockets where too few children are fully vaccinated. In parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, attacks make it harder for teams to reach families safely and return for follow-up doses. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic.

2. Where was the ninth case found?

The boy is from Mastak in Bara tehsil, near the Afghan border. His case is the third in Khyber district this year and the seventh in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The province accounts for seven of Pakistan’s nine confirmed cases so far in 2026.

3. What links the outbreak to Afghanistan?

Pakistan’s polio programme says the virus from all three Khyber cases is genetically linked to strains circulating in Afghanistan, which had reported 50 cases this year as of November 5. The genetic links point to cross-border circulation. They cannot trace who infected whom.

4. How dangerous is it to vaccinate children there?

On November 3, gunmen killed two police officers and wounded a third as they headed to protect a vaccination team in Mohmand district. Four polio workers were reported abducted in Tank, and a campaign supervisor was abducted in Jamrud during the same drive.

5. How can nine cases hide wider spread?

Poliovirus spreads mainly through contact with traces of infected faeces, including through contaminated water or food. The WHO estimates that about one in 200 infections causes irreversible paralysis. The confirmed case count can therefore capture only a fraction of infections.

6. Why do vaccinators have to keep coming back?

Children need multiple doses to build protection. Repeat campaigns also give teams another chance to reach children they missed. A national campaign can reach millions and still leave gaps if the same neighbourhoods are missed round after round.

7. Why are Pakistan and Afghanistan vaccinating at the same time?

The two countries have synchronised their current campaigns to close immunity gaps on both sides of the border. If the virus keeps circulating among under-vaccinated children on either side, it can spread again when people travel across.