Pakistan's mpox tally rises to 7 as another case reported

ISLAMABAD: A 44-year-old man, hailing from the Gujarat district in Punjab, has tested positive for monkeypox virus or mpox after arriving in Pakistan from a gulf state marking the seventh mpox case in the country this year and the sixth since the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an emergency last month.

After being suspected of carrying the virus, the patient, who landed at Islamabad Airport on September 14 (Saturday), was taken to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).

The health officials confirmed that samples sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) tested positive for mpox. The patient is reported to be in stable condition.

“This is the seventh confirmed case of mpox in Pakistan this year,” said a health official in the federal health ministry.

“Five previous cases were confirmed at the Khyber Medical University laboratory in Peshawar, while this latest patient is being treated in Islamabad," the official said.

Mpox is a virus that causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions and, while usually mild, it can kill. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are all at higher risk of complications.

Earlier on Wednesday, one more mpox case was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), taking the total tally of the virus to six in Pakistan, provincial Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah said

Moreover on Sunday, at least three passengers travelling to Karachi were suspected of monkeypox in a single day at the Jinnah International Airport, Geo News reported citing sources.

All three passengers returned to Pakistan from Middle Eastern countries, the sources added.

Following global health concerns, WHO has approved MVA-BN as the first pre-qualified vaccine against monkeypox virus, according to The News on Saturday.

"This first pre-qualification of a vaccine against mpox is an important step in our fight against the disease, both in the context of the current outbreaks in Africa and in future," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The development comes as the United Nations' health centric-body had declared the mpox outbreak as an "international health emergency" in July.

The spike in mpox cases in Peshawar has triggered concerns among health experts and the public alike, with calls for increased awareness and stricter travel guidelines.

Authorities continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly in light of the WHO's recent emergency declaration regarding the virus, he added and lauded Border Health Services (BHS) to finally detect an mpox case other than Peshawar.