The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced the detection of the second positive case of poliovirus in Afghanistan this year.
According to the report from this international organization, the latest case was identified in March in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
In its statement, the WHO did not provide further details about this specific case but emphasized that 18 positive environmental samples of poliovirus have been recorded in Afghanistan so far this year. These include eight cases in Kandahar, six in Helmand, and one case each in Laghman, Kabul, Nangarhar, and Zabul provinces.
Previously, the first human case of polio this year was detected in Badghis province, where a five-year-old girl from the village of Qaroto in Bala Murghab district was infected.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only two countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated. Last year, Afghanistan recorded 25 human cases and 113 environmental samples of polio. The majority of human cases were reported in Kandahar (14 cases), Helmand (7), Uruzgan (2), and one case each in Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
