ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) announced on Monday that the country had reported its seventh polio case of the year from the southern city of Karachi, urging parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated against the disease.

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of 5 is essential to provide children high immunity against the disease.

Pakistan last reported a polio case earlier this month, when authorities discovered a polio case from the northwestern Khyber district. The latest case on Monday was reported from Karachi, taking the nationwide tally to seven.

“Of the seven polio cases reported this year, five are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two from Sindh,” the NEOC said in a statement.

The last polio case was reported from Karachi in December 2024, the NEOC said. It warned that polio was an incurable disease that can only be cured through vaccination.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains an endemic.

Pakistan will launch a week-long polio vaccination campaign in 97 selected districts from Nov. 2 as part of its ongoing efforts to protect children against the crippling disease.

Pakistan has conducted repeated nationwide and targeted vaccination campaigns as it seeks to halt the transmission of wild poliovirus. Last month, Pakistan vaccinated 29.3 million in a nationwide polio vaccinate drive.

However, Pakistan’s polio campaigns have long been hampered by misinformation and vaccine refusals, as well as attacks by militant groups, who falsely claim polio vaccines are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children or cause infertility.

Last month, unidentified gunmen killed two police constables deployed to protect a polio vaccination team in Balochistan, a police official said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.