<p>Islamabad: Pakistan has reported two new polio cases, taking the country's tally of the crippling disease to 41 this year, according to media reports on Saturday.</p>.<p>The fresh cases were reported on Friday and Thursday, coinciding with the global observance of the Polio Day on October 24, the Dawn newspaper reported.</p>.<p>Reported in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the cases jolted the country's efforts to eradicate the poliovirus.</p>.Polio is 'gasping', on verge of eradication from world map: Expert.<p>The patient in Balochistan's Loralai district was a 42-month-old girl who had onset of paralysis on October 8, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health here confirmed.</p>.<p>This was the first case reported from the district this year.</p>.<p>According to the report, the girl had not received any anti-polio vaccination dose during routine immunisation campaigns.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the polio case in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was reported in the Kohat district. The patient was a 30-month-old boy.</p>.<p>So far, 21 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, six from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, according to the report.</p>.<p>As polio cases rise in the country, the Pakistan Polio Programme is launching a nationwide vaccination campaign next week to vaccinate more than 45 million children.</p>.<p>Earlier, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq acknowledged the spread of the virus across the country but noted that a strategy has been developed to eradicate the crippling disease by June 2025.</p>.<p>Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation. </p>
<p>Islamabad: Pakistan has reported two new polio cases, taking the country's tally of the crippling disease to 41 this year, according to media reports on Saturday.</p>.<p>The fresh cases were reported on Friday and Thursday, coinciding with the global observance of the Polio Day on October 24, the Dawn newspaper reported.</p>.<p>Reported in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the cases jolted the country's efforts to eradicate the poliovirus.</p>.Polio is 'gasping', on verge of eradication from world map: Expert.<p>The patient in Balochistan's Loralai district was a 42-month-old girl who had onset of paralysis on October 8, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health here confirmed.</p>.<p>This was the first case reported from the district this year.</p>.<p>According to the report, the girl had not received any anti-polio vaccination dose during routine immunisation campaigns.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the polio case in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was reported in the Kohat district. The patient was a 30-month-old boy.</p>.<p>So far, 21 cases have been reported from Balochistan, 12 from Sindh, six from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad, according to the report.</p>.<p>As polio cases rise in the country, the Pakistan Polio Programme is launching a nationwide vaccination campaign next week to vaccinate more than 45 million children.</p>.<p>Earlier, Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq acknowledged the spread of the virus across the country but noted that a strategy has been developed to eradicate the crippling disease by June 2025.</p>.<p>Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic, according to the World Health Organisation. </p>