9th polio case of 2026: 7-month-old boy in Khyber's Bara, third from the district this year

Pakistan has confirmed its ninth polio case of 2026, a seven-month-old boy from Mastak union council in Bara tehsil of Khyber district, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) said on Thursday 5 November in a statement on the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme's site.

It comes four days after the eighth case, a 13-month-old girl, also from Khyber.

The 2026 count so far

Punjab has had no case since February 2025, and Balochistan none in 2025 or 2026, the Prime Minister's Office said after a review meeting on Thursday, as Dawn reported.

The Afghanistan link

The virus found in all three Khyber children is genetically linked to Afghanistan, which has reported 50 cases this year, the NEOC said, calling it evidence of cross-border spread. Khyber and Peshawar together form the "Peshawar block" on the border, which, along with southern KP districts, keeps producing positive samples even as transmission falls elsewhere. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries where wild polio is still endemic.

PM orders a plan within a week

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the health ministers, the health secretary and the polio team to visit all four provinces, meet the chief ministers and chief secretaries, and produce a joint action plan within a week. He also asked for better routine immunisation in affected areas and said security and access for vaccination teams remained the top priority.

What parents should do now

• The campaign is on until 8 November. Door-to-door teams are covering about 24 million children under five in 97 districts, Khyber included (campaign details).
• Every child under five needs the drops every round, even if vaccinated before. Not sure if your youngest is still under five? Check with the age calculator.
• Missed the team? Ask your nearest basic health unit or vaccination centre; a missed child can be covered before the campaign closes.
• Routine vaccines matter too: polio drops in campaigns add to, and do not replace, the injections on a child's routine EPI schedule.

Polio has no cure and can leave a child paralysed for life. Vaccination is the only protection.