Police virus has been found in drain water in Kathmandu.
During an interaction organized by the Health Service Department on 'Polio Disease and Surveillance' here Friday, Chief of Child Health and Nutrition Division, Dr Abhiyan Gautam, said the polio virus was found in the water at the confluence of Tukucha and Bagmati rivers.
A sample collected from the confluence was tested positive for polio virus. It is the first time the polio virus was detected in the drain water.
Nepal had last witnessed this virus in human in 2010, while the country became polio free in 2014. The government had aimed at eradicating the polio by 2026.
"Irrespective of the place this virus is found, it is quite sensitive. Tracing polio virus has caused doubt whether human also have it," he explained.
Dr Gautam further informed additional tests would be conducted.
The sample collected on May 26 was sent to a Bangkok based laboratory for the test which resulted positive. The result came on July 13.
It was also shared in the programme that the new variant of the virus is 'vaccine derived polio type-3'. It is not 'wild polio'. "It might not have come from elsewhere but from Kathmandu Valley itself because it was found at Teku, confluence of Tukucha and Bagmati rivers," Dr Gautam argued.
With the detection of the virus after a decade of eradication, the Ministry of Health and Population has decided to launch an anti-polio campaign in all three districts of the valley.
Director at Family Welfare Division, Dr Bibek Kumar Lal, said 'IPV' vaccination was launched against polio recently. Under the vaccination campaign, a total of 280 thousand children would be administered anti-polio vaccination from July 24 to 27.
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