Health officials under the Taliban in Baghlan have reported the first positive case of polio in the province since 2019.

Mohammad Hassan Asim, the Taliban-appointed head of public health in Baghlan, said the case was identified in a child from Baghlan-e-Markazi district.

He did not provide further details about the child’s health condition or how the case was detected.

The World Health Organization had previously reported two other positive polio cases in Afghanistan, in Disho district of Helmand province and Kamdesh district of Nuristan province.

The new case in Baghlan comes as Afghanistan continues to report wild poliovirus transmission. The WHO said in August that three wild poliovirus type 1 cases had been reported in Afghanistan in 2026 at that point.

With the new case reported in Baghlan, the number of confirmed polio cases in Afghanistan this year has increased.