Pakistan reports three new mpox cases after WHO declares international health emergency
Pakistan has reported three new cases of mpox, with the infections detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. According to the provincial health department, these cases were identified among individuals who had recently arrived from the United Arab Emirates.
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FollowPakistan has reported three cases of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The viral infection was detected in the patients upon their arrival from the United Arab Emirates, according to local health authorities.
Salim Khan, the director general of health services for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, confirmed that two patients have been officially diagnosed with mpox. The third patient’s samples have been sent to the National Health Institute in Islamabad for further verification. All three patients are currently under quarantine.
The detection of these cases comes on the heels of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of the recent mpox outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern.” This declaration was prompted by the emergence of a new variant of the virus, which has raised global alarm.
The specifics of which variant of mpox has been detected in the newly reported Pakistani cases have not yet been disclosed.
In an urgent session led by the Director General of Health, the Pakistani health ministry issued new advisories and guidelines concerning monkeypox. Provinces have been directed to appoint focal persons responsible for monitoring and reporting any developments related to the disease.
This is not Pakistan's first encounter with monkeypox. Last year, the country reported nine cases of the virus, all linked to travelers returning from the Middle East and other regions. One fatal case involved an individual with both HIV and monkeypox, who died in Islamabad.
The WHO’s alert comes in the wake of a significant rise in mpox cases worldwide. As of June 30, 2024, the WHO reported 99,176 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox, with a notable spike in June 2024, recording 934 new cases. The majority of these cases originated from the African region (61%), followed by the Americas (19%) and Europe (11%).
In a related development, Sweden has confirmed Europe’s first case of the more dangerous variant of monkeypox, known as Clade I. The Swedish Public Health Agency announced that the individual, who sought medical care in Stockholm, contracted mpox during a visit to an African region currently experiencing a severe outbreak of this variant.
This case marks the first instance of Clade I monkeypox being diagnosed outside the African continent, highlighting the escalating global spread of the virus and the urgent need for international vigilance and cooperation.
