HELMAND, Afghanistan — A new environmental sample in Helmand province has tested positive for the polio virus, bringing Afghanistan’s total detections to 85 this year, according to a recent report by the World Health Organization.
The positive sample was collected in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, WHO reported.
This comes amidst the start of the third round of polio vaccination campaign for 6.2 million children in 16 provinces of the country on Monday, Oct. 28.
This also comes amid reports that the Taliban have suspended door-to-door polio vaccination campaigns in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, complicating efforts to contain the virus.
Last month, WHO recorded three positive cases of polio in Kandahar and Helmand, including two cases in Maywand and Ghorak districts of Kandahar and one in Helmand’s Nahr-e-Saraj district.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only countries worldwide where polio continues to circulate. WHO reports that there have been 487 environmental detections of the virus so far this year, including 85 in Afghanistan and 402 in Pakistan, underscoring the region’s ongoing struggle to eradicate the disease.
