The World Health Organization said that a total of 36 Wild Poliovirus (WPV1) cases has been reported, three from Afghanistan and 33 from Pakistan which indicates four-fold and 12-fold increase in the number of WPV1 in the countries respectively.

The WHO statement from the forty-first meeting of the Polio IHR Emergency Committee said that the cases have brought the number of WPV1 to 99 in 2024 and 3 in 2025 so far.

“A total of 741 WPV1 positive environmental samples were reported in 2024, 113 from Afghanistan and 628 from Pakistan. In 2025, 80 WPV1-positive environmental samples have been reported, 9 from Afghanistan and 71 from Pakistan,” reads part of the statement.

The statement also reads that in Afghanistan, the southern region has witnessed an increase in WPV1 detections, both in environmental samples and cases during 2024 while Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Balochistan were impacted the most by the virus.

The WHO has also expressed concerns over the continuation of absence of house-to-house vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan adding that this represents the risk of further WPV1 spread.

The world health body has warned of cross-border WPV1 transmission as more people move between Afghanistan and Pakistan and Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan from Pakistan.

The Ministry of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate has not commented on the new numbers by the WHO so far.