Islamabad: The World Health Organisation (Who) has expressed concern over emergence of new polio cases in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, where around 150,000 children have reportedly not been immunised against the deadly virus.

At least eight cases have been detected in Khyber agency this year, one from Tirah and seven from Bara town, Dawn News reported.

Khyber agency is the only area in Asia having both the polio virus 1 and 3 types.

Zabia, the 23-month-old daughter of Noor Jan, a resident of Akakhel area of Tirah, has become the latest case recorded in the region.

Zabia did not receive any dose of the oral polio vaccine, as the area where she lives has not been visited by any medical team since September 2009 due to fear over terror attacks.

The Who said spread of the virus will continue unabated as long as anti-polio programmes continue to miss a significant number of children, either due to insecurity or poor quality health campaigns.

A Who official said that due to coordinated efforts the problem of inaccessibility was on the decline.

Dereliction of duty

The political administration arrested four health workers and withheld salaries of at least two others for dereliction of duty during the recent polio campaign in Jamrud and Landi Kotal.

Officials said that they had also sent health teams to the far-flung areas of Bagh and Maidan in Tirah valley.

They said that though actual figures of vaccination were not yet available, the three-day campaign went smoothly and without any resistance.

The polio virology laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed four new cases of type-1 polio in Pakistan, raising the total number of polio cases reported this year to 21.

One polio case has been confirmed in the Rajanpur district of Punjab, making it the first case reported from the province this year.

The last time there was a case reported from Rajanpur was in 2004.

Meanwhile, three other cases were reported, including one each in Sindh, South Waziristan and Khyber Agency.

It was the first polio case reported in South Waziristan this year. The last case was reported in October 2011.

Similarly, it was the first polio case reported from the Larkana district in 2012. The last case from the district was reported in 2005.

However, this marks the the third case of polio reported this year in the province of Sindh.

Earlier cases were reported in Hyderabad and Nosheroferoz.

This also marks the eighth polio case reported in Khyber Agency. The first case was reported from Tirah tehsil, later, one was reported from Jamrud tehsil (county), and six earlier cases were reported from Bara tehsil.

According to the Polio Virology Laboratory, Alishba, a 36-month old, suffered from the onset of paralysis on May 21. She is a resident of a village in Rajanpur.