Another confirmed case of ‘mpox virus’ detected at Peshawar airport

PESHAWAR: The mpox tally in Pakistan has reached four with the third patient diagnosed with the virus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, health officials confirmed on Saturday.

KP Director Public Health Dr Irshad Ali Roghani confirming the development said that the virus symptoms were identified at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan airport in two suspects and both were shifted to the Police and Services Hospital (PSH) for diagnosis testing.

“The Public Health Laboratory at Khyber Medical University (KMU) has confirmed monkeypox in the 51-year-old patient, a resident of KP’s Orakzai district,” he said.

So far, out of the four mpox cases reported in the country, three have been reported in KP’s Mardan, Nowshera, and Orakzai. However, none of the cases were locally transmitted.

After the confirmation of the first suspect, surveillance at the airports was tightened across Pakistan to prevent further cases from entering the country.

National Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad said that an effective system of screening and surveillance system was functional at all airports. The spokesperson said that the border health staff were working diligently at airports and entry points to ensure continuous monitoring of the situation.

The first case of mpox in KP on August 15, 2024, came just a day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak in Africa as a global health emergency of international concern after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to nearby countries