Suspected case of mpox reported in Islamabad

Islamabad: A suspected case of monkey pox has been reported at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad.

According to the details, the focal person Dr Naseem Akhtar has confirmed that the 47-year-old victim is a resident of Azad Kashmir and has come to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia. His sample has been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH).

It is pertinent to note that on August 16, two more cases of mpox were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after which the number of infected people increased to three across the country.

On August 15, the first suspected case of mpox was reported in Pakistan after which the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) issued an advisory on measures to deal with the disease.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of international concern—the organisation's highest level of alert, after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries.

There have been previous cases of mpox in Pakistan, but it was not immediately clear which variant the patients were diagnosed with.

Director General Health Services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Saleem Khan said that mpox has been confirmed in two of the patients.

He said that the samples of the third patient have been sent to the NIH for confirmation, adding that the three patients are being kept in quarantine.

The provincial health department had said that a viral infection has been diagnosed in patients coming from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).