Pakistan’s mpox toll reaches four after third case reported in KP

• KP’s third mpox patient was returning from abroad.
• A patient being treated at Peshawar’s Services Hospital.
• The government imposes strict screening measures at international airports.

The toll of monkeypox in Pakistan this year has reached four after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported its third case after the virus was detected in a passenger returning to Pakistan from abroad.

Confirming the development, the KP public health director said the Public Health Laboratory has confirmed monkey pox in the patient, who hails from Orakzai. He was taken to the Peshawar Services hospital after developing symptoms at the airport.

The latest detection of monkeypox comes as the Federal Ministry of Health has issued strict guidelines for screening, isolation and other preventive measures, including thermal scanning, at all international airports across the country in light of the threat it poses the recent global epidemic of monkeypox virus;

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has also instructed all airlines flying to Pakistan from abroad to take preventive measures against monkeypox at airports.

In addition, the CAA has taken responsibility for facilitating the implementation of sanitary measures and ensures compliance with standard operating procedures (SOPs) by conducting regular inspections and audits.

While Border Health Services (BHS) — working as the lead agency responsible for the overall coordination and management of mpox-related operations at international airports — manages the isolation and safe transport of suspected mpox cases to designated medical facilities .

The guidelines came after a new form of the virus caused global concern because it appears to spread more easily through everyday close contact. A case of the new variant was confirmed on August 15 in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mpox is a viral disease related to the now-extinct smallpox virus and can be spread through any close contact and through contaminated materials such as sheets, clothing and needles.

Initial symptoms of the disease include fever, chills, muscle pain, swollen glands, exhaustion, headache, and muscle weakness that are often followed by a painful or itchy rash with raised lesions that peel and resolve over weeks.

It should be noted that of the four mpox cases reported in Pakistan, three have been reported in Mardan, Nowshera and Orakzai of KP. However, none of the cases were domestic and were traced to passengers returning from abroad.

Update on the latest case, the Director of Public Health said that the patient is in a stable condition and is being treated at the Services Hospital.