RAWALPINDI: In response to the continued detection of poliovirus in environmental samples from Rawalpindi, the Punjab Emergency Operations Centre has decided to launch a special polio vaccination campaign across 25 union councils in the district.

`This three-day special campaign will commence on Monday (today), targeting over 124,000 children under the age of five,` said District Health Officer Dr Ehsan Ghani.

The targeted union councils, which fully or partially drain into the environmental sampling sites, are located in Rawalpindi City and Taxila tehsils.

These areas are home to high-risk mobile populations originating from polio-affected regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and across the border in Afghanistan.

Despite a one-month gap in March 2025, environmental samples from Rawalpindi have consistently tested positive for poliovirus since June 2024. These positive samples indicate that the virus continues to circulate in the region, posing a serious risk to children even in the absence of any reported polio cases.

`To counter this threat, the district is undertaking this vaccination drive to ensure every child receives oral polio vaccine (OPV) drops, boosting their immunity against this crippling disease,` said the DHO.

It is important to remember thateven a single polio case in any area puts children in approximately 200 neighbouring households at risk.

Although no polio case has been reported in Rawalpindi so far in the recent past, the persistent positive environmental samples serve as a clear warning to parents.

Every child must receive two drops of the polio vaccine every time it is offered. The government considers surveillance for Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) the `gold standard` for polio detection in both endemic and polio-free countries.

However, experts emphasise that environmental surveillance is an effective early warning tool, especially in areas with high-risk groups such as mobile populations, vaccine refusals and under or unimmunised communities.

To strengthen surveillance efforts, Punjab has established 31 permanent environmental sampling sites across 19 districts.

These include Lahore, Multan, D.G. Khan, Rajanpur, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Okara, Bahawalnagar, Khanewal, Attock, Gujrat, Jhang and Mianwali.

Rawalpindi`s three environmental surveillance sites are located in Dhoke Dalal, Safdarabad and Sarae Kala. Aamir Yasin