Islamabad, Hilal Ahmad, September 1, AZERTAC

In Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has reported its third mpox case pushing the country's total count to four as a passenger was detected with the virus upon his arrival to the homeland from abroad.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Director Public Health, Dr Irshad Ali Roghani has confirmed on Saturday the third case of mpox in the province, saying the suspected patient has been shifted to a local hospital after showing symptoms at the Peshawar airport.

Pakistan’s third case of the mpox virus was confirmed at the Peshawar airport while a second case of mpox was also detected last week at the same airport and was later shifted to a local hospital. Both the patients were transferred to the hospital for treatment, Director Public Health added.

“This is the third confirmed case of mpox in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan during the current year,” Dr Irshad Ali Roghani said. He made it clear that no locally transmitted cases had been recorded so far.

On the other hand, the Sindh province’s Health Department had reported a suspected case of mpox at Karachi's Jinnah International Airport. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services has said that the mpox virus was under control in the country. Spokesperson of the Ministry has said that the screening of suspected patients was underway across Pakistan and those showing symptoms were being sent to isolation wards in hospitals to avoid local transmission of the virus.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant of the virus, Clade 1b, was identified.

It is worth mentioning that mpox is an illness caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a viral infection which can spread between people, mainly through close contact and occasionally from the environment to people via things and surfaces that have been touched by a person with mpox.

The disease presents with flu-like symptoms and is usually mild but can be fatal. Children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complications.