Pakistan Confronts Growing Monkeypox Cases Amid Uncertainty

Authorities in Pakistan have reported a fourth monkeypox (mpox) case in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. The patient, detected at Peshawar airport, was moved to a hospital and confirmed positive for mpox. Confusion persists about the total number of cases. Precautions include strict airport screening as the virus primarily affects recent travelers.

Authorities in Pakistan on Sunday reported another case of monkeypox (mpox) virus amid confusion about the total number of cases confirmed so far in the country.

The fourth case was detected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province where authorities confirmed three previous infections of the virus.

"The medical team at Peshawar airport transferred the patient (fourth case) to the Police and Services Hospital (PSH) after detecting symptoms of the virus during the screening," KP Health Director Dr. Irshad Ali Roghani said.

Roghani said the rapid response team took samples from the patient's wound in the hospital and sent it to the laboratory, which confirmed mpox in the patient, who was reported in a stable condition.

According to officials, all patients returned from abroad and so far there was no local case reported.

Apart from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, health officials on August 19 reported that a 47-year-old resident of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) here due to mpox symptoms.

Dr. Nasim Akhtar, the hospital's focal person, had told the media that the patient showed symptoms consistent with mpox and was placed in a special ward designated for such cases at PIMS.

However, it was not clarified if his mpox infection was confirmed.

Another patient, who was isolated in Karachi on Saturday due to symptoms of the virus, was later cleared as no infection of mpox was detected.

There is still confusion over the total number of confirmed cases in Pakistan but the latest confirmation by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa official suggested there were four confirmed cases in the country.

Pakistan has taken precautions to tackle the disease by putting in place a strict screening system at its airports after it emerged that all the patients confirmed with the virus had returned from abroad.

The mpox virus shows flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.

It is usually a mild but life-threatening virus with children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems at higher risk.

The WHO last month sounded an alert over the mpox outbreak in Africa after cases in Congo spread to nearby countries.

At least 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, have been reported in Congo since the current outbreak of the virus in January last year.

(With inputs from agencies.)