KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed Afghanistan’s second case of polio in 2025, identified in March in the southern province of Helmand.
While the WHO report did not provide further details, the case follows the year’s first confirmed infection in Badghis province, where a five-year-old girl in Bala Murghab district contracted the virus.
In addition to the two human cases, WHO reported 18 positive environmental samples of the poliovirus across Afghanistan so far this year. These include eight detections in Kandahar, six in Helmand, and one each in Kabul, Laghman, Nangarhar, and Zabul provinces.
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only countries where polio remains endemic. Efforts to eliminate the virus continue to face serious challenges, including security risks and widespread misinformation about vaccines.
Last year, Afghanistan recorded 25 human cases and 113 environmental detections. Most cases were concentrated in the south: 14 in Kandahar, seven in Helmand, two in Uruzgan, and one each in Kunar and Nuristan.
Health experts warn that vaccination efforts are being undermined by Taliban restrictions on female health workers, who play a vital role in accessing households in conservative communities. Their exclusion has heightened concerns about children’s vulnerability to future polio outbreaks.
