Environmental surveillance shows a significant decline in poliovirus circulation across Pakistan during the first half of 2026, reflecting improved vaccination efforts and disease monitoring.
Pakistan has recorded significant progress in its fight against polio, with the percentage of poliovirus-positive environmental samples falling sharply during the first six months of 2026, according to the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC).
The NEOC said the positivity rate in environmental samples dropped to 13.1% during January to June 2026, compared with 48.1% during the same period last year. The number of positive environmental samples also declined dramatically from 369 in the first half of 2025 to 100 during the corresponding period in 2026.
During June 2026, health authorities collected 127 environmental samples from across Pakistan as part of the country’s ongoing poliovirus surveillance program. Of these, 117 samples tested negative, while only 10 samples were confirmed positive for the virus.
Provincial data also reflected encouraging progress. All 31 environmental samples collected from Punjab tested negative for poliovirus. In Sindh, 28 of 29 samples were negative, while 30 of 34 samples from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 18 of 23 samples from Balochistan also tested negative.
Despite the improvement in environmental surveillance, the NEOC confirmed that three polio cases have been reported in Pakistan so far in 2026, underscoring the need to sustain vaccination and monitoring efforts.
Health authorities said environmental surveillance, vaccination coverage, and access to immunization services are being further strengthened to eliminate the virus. Officials reiterated that every child under the age of five should receive polio drops during every nationwide vaccination campaign.
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