Pakistan reports 5th case of mpox

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported the fifth case of mpox formerly known as monkeypox on Monday as an Umrah pilgrim returned from Saudi Arabia was tested positive at Islamabad International Airport.

“A 50-year-old man, who worked in Kuwait and belonged to Faisalabad, returned Pakistan from Mecca after performing Umrah. Upon arrival, he was found to have some lesions and symptoms of mpox, His samples were sent to National Institutes of Islamabad (NIH), which confirmed that he was infected with mpox,” Dr Nasim Akhtar, head of infectious diseases department at PIMS told The News. It is the 5th case of mpox detected in Pakistan so far and all those suffering from the disease returned from Saudi Arabia, officials at Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination (NHS,R&C) said. They, however, claimed that there was no evidence of local transmission of mpox in the country.

The infected person has been shifted to the isolation ward of the PIMS hospital in the federal capital where he is being treated for the disease and hoped that he would be discharged upon recovery within a few days, said Dr Nasim Akhtar.Dr Rana Jawad Asghar, an infectious diseases expert said authorities should investigate how the patients contracted the disease in Saudi Arabia and added that Pakistan should request the Saudi authorities to share the details if there is an active outbreak of mpox in Saudi Arabia. According to World Health Organization (WHO), mpox is usually self-limiting, which means symptoms usually go away without the need for treatment within 2–3 weeks. Some people may require antibiotics and analgesia to treat secondary infections and local pain.

Last week, WHO Director General General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the end of the emergency status for the disease based on the recommendation of the organisation’s emergency committee, saying the decision was prompted by falling case numbers worldwide, but emphasised that the disease remained a threat particularly in areas of Africa where it has long been present.

Mpox (monkeypox) is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. The World Health Organisation (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. Since May 2022, a global outbreak of human monkeypox infections has affected over 78,000 people.