PESHAWAR (Dunya News) - The third case of monkeypox was detected at Peshawar airport, while another suspected patient was sent to sanatorium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Health Director Dr Irshad Ali Roghani confirmed on Saturday.
This came just days after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of mpox a public health emergency of international concern. The emergence of the Clade 1b variant has sparked a global alarm because it transmits through close contact.
According to health ministry, a second Clade2 mpox case was detected at Peshawar airport last week.
Dr Roghani said that the two travellers, after identifying the symptoms of the virus at Bacha Khan International Airport, were shifted to Police Services Hospital (PHS).
A 51-year-old man from Orakzai was diagnosed with the virus, said the health officials.
This is the third mpox case confirmed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, not a locally transmitted case reported so far, health official added.
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The concerned team took the patients' samples and sent them to laboratory. The laboratory confirmed that one patient had contracted the virus. The other suspect was waiting the results.
Meanwhile, the Sindh health department reported a suspected case of mpox at Karachi's Jinnah international airport.
The Ministry of National Health Services said that the mpox virus was under control.
Pakistan's health authorities said that precautionary measures were in place to contain the spread of the virus.
The WHO has warned that the mpox virus can be severe in children, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems. With over 27,000 cases and 1,100 deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo since January 2023 due to the virus, the international community is on high alert.