By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has confirmed its second case of mpox, previously known as monkeypox, in a traveler who arrived at Peshawar airport from a Gulf country, the national health coordinator said on Friday.
“A second case of mpox has been reported in Pakistan, which has come from a Gulf country,” Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad, the Prime Minister’s coordinator for health, told state television.
The patient, who was not identified, was shifted to a hospital after being detected at the airport.
Ahmad did not specify the type of virus strain had been confirmed, but said the health ministry was monitoring the situation closely through screening and surveillance at all airports.
“Border Health Services staff are scrutinizing suspected cases at airports and entry points to prevent the spread of the virus.”
The first case was reported on Monday in a 47-year-old traveler from the Middle East who was working as a laborer and was a resident of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
The health ministry classified the virus as Clade 2b, whereas the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is primarily associated with Clade 1b.
Clade 1b has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact. A case of the variant was confirmed last week in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, with over 27,000 cases and 1,100 deaths reported in the DRC since January.
The WHO has not recommended travel restrictions to curb the spread of mpox, which presents with flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. The disease is usually mild but can be fatal, particularly for people with weakened immune systems.
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