ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reported its eighth case of mpox after a passenger at Peshawar Airport tested positive for the virus, health authorities confirmed on Saturday.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health adviser Ihtesham Ali said that the patient, a 35-year-old man from Lakki Marwat district, tested positive after arriving in Pakistan on November 28 from Dubai, where he had worked as a driver for the past five years.
Samples were collected from the suspected patient at Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar and sent to the Public Health Reference Laboratory for confirmation. Dr. Masoor, a surveillance officer from the Rapid Response Team under the Directorate General of Health, identified the case.
“The patient has been counselled on treatment and preventive measures, including maintaining social distance,” Ihtesham Ali said, adding that the district health officer has been instructed to monitor the patient closely.
“There is currently only one active mpox case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the health adviser noted. “This year, six mpox cases have been reported in the province, five of whom have fully recovered.”
On August 14, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, raising global alarm. To date, 122 countries have reported more than 99,518 confirmed cases and 208 deaths, highlighting the growing health threat.
Pakistan’s seventh mpox case was reported in September 2024 when a 44-year-old individual from the Gujarat district of Punjab tested positive. The sixth case was identified on September 17, 2024, after Border Health Services staff detected the virus during passenger screening at Islamabad Airport.
Earlier, the fifth case was confirmed in Peshawar, involving a 33-year-old patient who had arrived from a Gulf country via Islamabad International Airport.
The first four cases, also reported in Peshawar, were declared recovered and discharged by September 8, 2024.
The WHO approved the first vaccine against mpox in September 2024. Known as MVA-BN, the vaccine is administered in two doses, four weeks apart, to individuals aged 18 and older.
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The vaccine has demonstrated 76 percent effectiveness after the first dose and 82 percent after the second, according to WHO data.
Mpox, which causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions, was initially identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo before spreading to neighbouring regions and beyond.
The virus is particularly dangerous for high-risk groups and individuals with compromised immune systems, where mortality rates can reach up to 10 percent.
