This is the fourth polio case confirmed this year in Lahore, the ministry said in a statement.

Three of the four polio cases in Lahore have been genetically linked to a cluster of infections in Afghanistan, said the statement.

This year, the health ministry tested over 1,700 samples, of which 22, or nearly 1 percent, were found to be contaminated with the wild poliovirus, it added.

Two children have been paralyzed by the poliovirus so far in 2023, the statement said, adding that both cases were reported in Bannu, a southern district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which remains polio-endemic.

A polio vaccination campaign is underway in Lahore and will last through Sunday, according to the ministry.

(With UNI Inputs)