Polio is surging again in Pakistan, frustrating world health officials trying to wipe out the disease.
Last week, the country reported 202 cases of paralysis, the first time in 14 years the figure topped 200.
Pakistan is the only country where the virus is spreading fast. Eight of Afghanistan’s 10 cases are linked to Pakistan, said Dr. Elias Durry, who directs the World Health Organization’s response in Pakistan. Both Nigeria and Somalia have fewer than 10 cases each, and Africa may be polio-free by 2015, he said.
But in Pakistan, he said, “the virus is laughing at us and doing whatever it wants.”