Three monkeypox cases ‘confirmed’ in Pakistan, promoting health alert nationwide

ISLAMABAD: Three patients, who arrived from Gulf countries, have been diagnosed with the mpox (monkeypox) virus in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the provincial health department confirmed on Friday.

On Thursday, the first mpox case of this year was reported, prompting the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to issue an advisory on measures to deal with the disease.

Two more patients have been confirmed to have mpox, said Salim Khan, the KP director general of health services today. All patients were detected with the mpox following their arrival from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the department said.

Health officials said it was not immediately clear which variant was detected in the patients, adding all three patients were being quarantined.

Earlier on Thursday, the Ministry of Health confirmed that a 34-year-old male resident of Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been diagnosed with the viral infection. The patient, who returned to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia on August 3, exhibited minor symptoms shortly after arriving in Peshawar.

Health officials collected samples and sent them to the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad for confirmation. “Provincial health authorities are now engaged in contact tracing,” the official added.

Sajid Shah, spokesperson of the Health Ministry stated that all provinces had been instructed to designate focal persons for mpox-related matters. Authorities have also directed concerned authorities to establish isolation wards in designated hospitals, stock antiviral medications, and ensure the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and all healthcare facilities and points of entry.

After the confirmation of the first suspect, surveillance at the airports was tightened across Pakistan to prevent further cases from entering the country. Meanwhile, the Border Health Services (BHS) and provincial authorities have also been put on high alert in the wake of the case’s detection in the country’s north-western province.

The development 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

Since April 2023, Pakistan had 11 confirmed Mpox cases with one death, all linked to travelers from the Middle East and other regions. During a special NCOC session, officials noted that around 15 African countries are currently reporting Mpox cases, with 2,030 confirmed infections.

The spread to previously unaffected regions like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda since mid-July 2024 indicates the virus’s growing reach.