Two fresh polio virus cases have been detected in the south of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, taking the nationwide tally to 26, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Monday.

Pakistan is one of the last two countries in the world, alongside Afghanistan, where polio remains endemic. Despite global efforts to eradicate the virus, challenges such as security issues, vaccine hesitancy, and misinformation have slowed progress.

According to a press release issued by the NIH, one of the cases was detected in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali tehsil in a 19-month-old infant, while the other case was confirmed in an 11-month-old infant in Lakki Marwat’s Suleman Khel tehsil.

The two new cases have taken the total number of cases reported in KP to 18, the highest out of any province in the country. The nationwide tally now stands at 26, with six cases from Sindh, 18 from KP and one each from Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan, NIH said.

Detailing the results of August’s environmental sewage samples regarding polio — collected from 87 districts across the country — the NIH said, “of the 126 environmental samples tested, 75 were found negative with no poliovirus detected, while 51 samples tested positive.”

As per NIH, out of a total of 23 samples tested for polio in Balochistan, only one was positive, while in KP, out of 34 samples tested, 10 were found to be positive.

Punjab recorded 14 polio-positive samples, out of 31 tested; Polio virus was found in 24 of the 29 samples tested in Sindh, 12 of which were in Karachi, as per the NIH.

One sample each was found positive for the virus in GB and Islamabad.

“Balochistan reported a marked reduction, with only one positive environmental site in July and August, down from 19 in January,” the press release said.

“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, positive environmental sites dropped from 13 in April to 10 in August,” it noted, adding that “seven out of the 10 positive sites were in the south of the province, while all samples from Peshawar tested negative for the virus.

“In Islamabad, the number of positive environmental sites has decreased from three in July to one in August,” the press release said.

NIH expressed concern at the “continued detection of cases, particularly in southern KP,” stating that “children living in hard-to-reach areas and those in communities with low vaccine acceptance remain most at risk.”

In connection with that, a sub-national polio campaign began in southern KP today and is set to run for the next three days until September 18.

“A special action plan for southern KP was developed and [is] being implemented under the supervision of Chief Secretary KP, focusing on strengthening monitoring, addressing access challenges, and promoting community-led initiatives to reach unreached children in high-risk areas,” the statement read.

KP Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah has “directed urgent, intensified efforts to ensure no child is left unvaccinated,” the press release said.

“Earlier this month, the National Emergency Operations Centre conducted a sub-national polio vaccination campaign from 1–7 September 2025 in 81 districts across the country, successfully reaching more than 19.8 million children under five,” it added.

NIH urged parents and caregivers to play their part in helping eradicate polio.

Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the oral polio vaccine for every child under five during each campaign, along with the timely completion of all essential immunisations.