ISLAMABAD, August 16 (EFE) – Pakistani authorities have confirmed the first case of MPOX in the country after the World Health Organization declared the epidemic a “public health emergency of international concern.”
This is the first confirmed case in Asia since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the disease a global emergency.
“The patient tested positive for the MPOX virus,” health ministry spokesman Sajid Shah told EFE, adding that the patient had recently returned from the Gulf country.
Samples from two other patients in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been sent to the National Institute of Health for confirmation.
The state also confirmed its first cases, but Shah did not say which variant was involved.
Pakistan's Ministry of Health issued a notice on Thursday outlining measures to curb the spread of the infection.
The ministry said testing regimes have been stepped up at airports and points of entry.
A special meeting on the country's preparedness was held, which was also attended by the Prime Minister's Health Coordinator.
According to the Pakistan National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), Mpox cases in Pakistan are rare, with the country having recorded a total of 11 cases and one death since April 2023.
Sweden on Thursday reported the first MPOX case outside Africa in this outbreak, in an infected patient who had recently been in an endemic area in Africa.
This is the second time in two years that the disease has been declared a threat to global health, after a previous alert was lifted in May last year when the situation was deemed under control.
Common signs of infection include a rash, fever, sore throat, headache, muscle and back pain, loss of energy, and swollen lymph nodes.
The new variant is more easily transmitted through close contact and is considered to be more dangerous than the 2022 variant. EFE
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