KARACHI, May 14: Another polio case was confirmed in Sindh on Wednesday, raising the number of cases detected this year to eight.

Expanded Programme on Immunisation’s project director (Sindh) Dr Mazhar Khamisani told Dawn that the National Institute of Health had confirmed by tests on samples sent more than two weeks ago that a six-month-old girl of Dadu district was suffering from the deadly disease.

He said the victim had received two supplementary immunisation doses but no routine vaccination.

All the polio cases reported in the country this year are from Sindh.

The province had a share of 36 per cent in the cases reported in 2006 and 48 per cent in 2007.

Sources said the province was showing no let-up in the cases although it was not the peak polio virus transmission season.

They said the situation indicated not only the rebirth of the virus but also its uninterrupted spread.

The cases reported are from Nawabshah district (Jan 1), Hyderabad (Jan 25), Shikarpur (Feb 25), Karachi (April 1), Mirpurkhas (April 5), Naushahro Feroze (April 6), Jacobabad (April 9) and Dadu (April 23).

A study of the cases indicated widespread circulation of wild polio virus type-1 having its origin in Karachi which is now considered to be a reservoir serving for WPV1 circulation in the province.

The sources said that rigorous action for high-quality vaccination was needed, particularly in June before the start of the peak transmission season.

Meanwhile, Sindh Health Secretary Shafiq A. Khoso has issued notices to executive district officers, health, calling for disciplinary action against lady health workers, vaccinators and other personnel who had failed to fulfil their responsibility.

The secretary was unhappy over reports that four of the polio victims reported during the current year had not received a single routine immunisation dose, the sources said.