The fresh detection of a polio case in a 16-month old boy in Shikarpur district has upset the immunisation campaigners and others associated with the programme, said sources privy to the expanded immunisation programme. The bigwigs at the helm of affairs of the polio-drop administration programme considered the detection of three polio cases during the first three months of the year a rebirth of the polio virus, which, according to them, had almost been eliminated in the province. "Now, the concern is how the huge funding behind at least 72 rounds of oral polio drops since 1994 and the services of thousands of national vaccinators and polio workers under the supervision of national health officials and representatives of international donors and health agencies will be justified,' said a source. According to a senior health official, despite a long journey and efforts including a good number of foreign trips in the name of study tours and interactions with other counterparts and important meetings, zero reporting of polio cases still remains a distant goal. In 2005, a total of five polio cases were found in Sindh, while 12 cases were confirmed for 2006, including four at Karachi, two at Sukkur and one each at Naushehro Feroze, Umerkot, Ghotki, Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Sanghar. Twelve cases were also discovered in 2007. The cases were discovered in Karachi (2), Khairpur (1), Thatta (1), Jacobabad (2), Ghotki (1) and Kambar (5). Now, Hyderabad, Nawabshah and Shikarpur have also entered the list of high-risk districts in the province as they reported one polio case each during 2008 so far, while other districts outside Sindh are currently zero reporters. At an Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) review meeting held on Saturday (March 22) at Karachi, it was stressed that the high-risk population