LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Amid the risks of an outbreak, two new suspected cases of the monkeypox (Mpox) virus have been reported from Lahore's General Hospital (GH), the facility's administration said on Sunday.
The suspected cases come a week after Pakistan detected the first two cases of monkeypox in people who travelled to the country from abroad.
As per the details, one of the new suspected patients is a female and the other is a male, who were showing symptoms of the disease. Their symptoms include fever and red spots while one of them also has blisters on the body.
The hospital administration said that both the suspected patients are under treatment at the hospital for the last two days.
On the other hand, the first two monkeypox cases reported in Pakistan last week have recovered from the virus, officials of the Federal Ministry of Health said Sunday.
The person deported from Saudi Arabia, who was under treatment at the Pakistan Institute Of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital, has been discharged, said the ministry's officials.
Meanwhile, the other person was in quarantine at their home and was said to be in a stable condition.
According to infectious disease experts, many cases of "chickenpox" are being reported in Pakistan. They said that people are mistaking the cases of chickenpox as monkeypox.
The experts urged the health ministry to take note of the increasing cases of smallpox.
On Saturday, World Health Organisation (WHO) Saturday assured to assist Pakistan as per its requirement to contain the monkeypox virus, after the authorities reportedly decided to approach the body for vaccines.
In a statement, the organisation said it had been working and probing the spread of the virus alongside Pakistan's government, as the situation continues to evolve.
An official of the Ministry of National Health Services stated that no evidence of localised transmission of monkeypox in Pakistan had been found so far, while the risk of its international spread from the country remains low.
WHO also did not recommend any restrictions on trade on the currently available information regarding monkeypox outbreaks.
According to health officials, one of the monkeypox patient was deported from Saudi Arabia and landed in Pakistan on April 17 with symptoms of the disease. Meanwhile, another person sitting with him on the flight also exhibited symptoms of the disease.
Meanwhile, four other suspected cases had been detected in Karachi a few days ago, but the Sindh health department officials said that the virus wasn't confirmed as the samples of all four people were tested negative at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS).
The federal and provincial governments have put health and airports authorities on high alert and imposed certain SOPs to ensure that the virus is detected in a bid to ensure that it does not spread in the country.
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Two different clades exist — clade I and clade II.
The WHO has said that the common symptoms of monkeypox or mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2–4 weeks and are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with someone who is infectious, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.
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