Aug. 16, PESHAWAR (Reuters) – The mpox virus has been verified in at least one case in Pakistan, according to the health ministry, which reported on Friday. The virus’s strain is still unknown. The patient had returned from a Gulf nation.
According to a spokesman for the health ministry, the verified case is currently being sequenced; the specific mpox variant the patient carried will remain unknown until the procedure was finished.
Because it appears to spread more readily through frequent close contact, a new strain of the virus has raised concerns throughout the world. The first indication of the new variant’s international dissemination was a case that was confirmed in Sweden on Thursday and connected to an expanding outbreak in Africa.
To curb the spread of mpox, the World Health Organization has warned against imposing any travel restrictions.
The health administration in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkwa withdrew its earlier assertion that three mpox patients had been found there this week upon arrival from the United Arab Emirates and announced on Friday that one mpox case had been confirmed in the area.
The location of the confirmed mpox patient, a male who the officer stated had recently returned from Saudi Arabia, remained unknown, according to a health officer in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district.
Dr. Javed Iqbal told Reuters that he had first been examined and given counsel in a hospital in the provincial capital of Peshawar, but that he then traveled back to his Mardan home, which was a few hours away, and then to another district.
“When we visited his home in Mardan, it was locked from outside and his neighbours told us that the family has left for Dir,” said the DHO of Mardan.
The national health ministry stated it was tracing the patient’s contacts, who they believed was from Mardan. “We approached our fellow colleagues of the health department in Dir district, but they couldn’t trace him even in Dir.” The ministry added in a statement that they were also increasing airport surveillance and monitoring by adding more medical staff.
Once the new viral variety was discovered, the WHO deemed the current disease outbreak to be a public health emergency of global concern.
Sajid Shah, a spokesman for the health ministry, stated that although the sample of the identified patient is being sequenced, there has been no confirmation of the new variant as of yet.
“Once that’s done, we will be able to say what strain is this,” Shah said.
Global health officials announced on Thursday that a new strain of the mpox virus had been contracted in Sweden and connected it to an expanding outbreak in Africa, marking the first indication that the virus has gone beyond the continent.
Following the spread of infections from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to neighboring countries, the WHO on Wednesday issued its highest level of alert for the outbreak in Africa.
Since the current outbreak started in January 2023, there have been 27,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths in Congo, the most of which have been among youngsters.
The illness, which is brought on by the monkeypox virus, manifests as pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms. Although often moderate, it can be fatal; youngsters, expectant mothers, and those with compromised immune systems, such those living with HIV, are all more susceptible to consequences.
All the news you need to start your day is provided by the Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter. Register by going here.
Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar and Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad handled the reporting; Jan Harvey, Christian Schmollinger, and Sonali Paul handled the editing.
