ISLAMABAD, NOV 9 :Polio virus has been detected in environmental samples from five districts in different parts of Pakistan, the Pakistani health ministry said on Thursday.

The virus was detected in four samples in the southern port city of Karachi, two samples in Chaman district of the southwestern Balochistan province, and one sample each from Peshawar, Kohat, and Nowshera districts of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the ministry said in a statement.

The presence of the virus is a threat to each and every child, Pakistan’s caretaker Health Minister Nadeem Jan was quoted as saying in the statement.

Children below five years of age could get a lifelong physical disability from it, he said.

He also called for the parents to welcome the health workers who are going to their homes for polio vaccination.(UNI)