All 20 suspected cases of monkeypox in Pakistan test negative

After acquiring PCR testing kits for monkeypox, the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad collected samples from 20 suspected patients of monkeypox but none of them tested positive, officials said.

They added that even no suspected case of monkeypox had so far been reported from Karachi and Lahore.

“So far 20 suspected samples have been tested for the monkeypox viral infection at the NIH Islamabad but all of them turned out to be negative. Most of the cases were of measles and chickenpox,” an official of the federal ministry of national health services (NHS) told The News.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that from January 1 till June 15 this year, a total of 2,103 cases of monkeypox and one death due to the viral disease was reported from its 42 member states across five WHO regions (Americas, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific).

According to the global health organisation, the outbreak of monkeypox continues to primarily affect men having intimate relations with other men.

NHS officials said that most of the suspected cases of monkeypox were children who had been infected with measles and chickenpox. They added that the symptoms of monkeypox were similar to measles and chicken pox and monkeypox spread through skin contact so it was unlikely that it would spread like other contagious diseases.

Hospitals and labs in Karachi, including the public health laboratory at the Dow University’s Ojha Centre, Civil Hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital have also confirmed that they had not used any of the 100 PCR testing kits provided to them by the WHO last month for testing monkeypox as there had been no suspected patient of the disease.

The WHO had handed over 300 PCR kits for the detection of monkeypox to the Sindh health department, which provided them to three public and private health facilities in Karachi.

Although infectious diseases experts believe that monkeypox is less likely to become a pandemic like Covid-19 despite being a Zoonotic disease, which spreads from animals to humans, the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad has already issued an alert directing all the federal and provincial health authorities to remain on high alert.

AKUH infectious diseases specialist Dr Faisal Mehmood also said that monkeypox was less likely to become a pandemic like Covid-19 as it was less contagious than the novel coronavirus, but the authorities should remain on high alert for its detection.

“So the good thing is that compared to Covid, this is less contagious. Secretions of an infected person are contagious and you need closer contact to get the infection,” Dr Mehmood said, adding that in case of monkeypox, a person became infectious on the day when symptoms started to emerge.

This is not the case with Covid-19 as someone may spread the disease to others before the onset of symptoms.