Director of Public Health of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Dr. Irshad Ali Roghani said on Saturday that the third case of MPOX virus in Pakistan was confirmed at Peshawar Airport while another suspected patient was also transferred to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Sindh Health Department reported a suspected case of MPOX at Karachi Airport.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern following the identification of a new strain of the virus, clade 1b.
The clade 1b variant has raised global concern because of the ease with which it spreads through routine close contact.
However, the WHO has stated that the MPOX outbreak is not another Covid-19, as much is already known about the virus and the means to control it.
The Ministry of Health had earlier clarified that the first case of MPOX in Pakistan was of clade 2 type. A second case of MPOX was confirmed last week, a patient was also detected at Peshawar Airport.
Medical staff at Bacha Khan International Airport on Thursday identified two passengers showing symptoms of the MPOX virus (formerly monkey pox), the KP Public Health Director said.
Dr. Roghani added that the patients were then shifted to the Police and Services Hospital (PSH) for immediate treatment.
According to documents seen by Dawn news, which include a ‘suspect passenger data form’ for each person, the two passengers were on the same flight from Jeddah to Peshawar.
The confirmed case was a 51-year-old man from Orakzai, whose condition was stable and under treatment at the PSH, a KP health official said.
“This is the third confirmed case of MPOX in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the year 2024,” said Dr Roghani, adding that no locally transmitted case has been recorded so far.
“The rapid response team took the patient’s samples and sent them to the laboratory,” he said, after which the Public Health Reference Laboratory confirmed that the patient had MPox.
Meanwhile, samples of another patient, a 47-year-old man from Peshawar, have also been sent to the laboratory for testing and the results are awaited, Dr. Roghani said.
The official added that the KP Health Department has created an integrated surveillance and response system for MPOX.
Meanwhile, a suspected case of MPOX was reported at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the Sindh Health Department said in a statement on Saturday.
A sample from the passenger, who also came from Jeddah, has been sent to a laboratory for further confirmation. The 32-year-old was then admitted to the Napa Infectious Diseases Hospital with symptoms of a “maculopapular rash over the body”.
Pakistan confirmed its second case of MPOX last week, the National Health Coordinator said, adding that the patient was detected at Peshawar Airport.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Health has said that the MPOX virus is under control in Pakistan.
The ministry spokesperson claimed that screening of suspected patients is underway across the country and those showing symptoms are being sent to isolation wards in hospitals to prevent local transmission of the virus.
The WHO has issued its highest level of alert for the outbreak in Africa after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries. Since the current outbreak began in January 2023, there have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths in the DRC, mostly among children.
One case of the clade 1b variant has so far been confirmed in Sweden and Thailand — the first signs of its spread outside the continent. However, the WHO has not called for any travel restrictions to prevent the spread of Mpox.
The MPOX presents with flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is usually mild but can be fatal, and children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complications.
