Daily Times

Pakistan has detected its first case of monkeypox in a person who travelled to the country from abroad, the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination confirmed Tuesday.

The ministry has issued guidelines regarding mpox – a rare viral zoonotic disease – to all airports in Pakistan following the detection of the first case at the Islamabad airport, the ministry’s spokesperson Sajid Shah said.

The samples of the person, whose identity has been kept confidential, were then sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, and a day earlier, the facility confirmed that he was a carrier of the infectious virus.

The officials added that the person is a resident of either Rawalpindi or Islamabad, and his relatives are now being screened and asked to remain in quarantine to ensure the virus does not spread. The authorities have also begun contract tracing.

They said that airports across the country have been put on high alert after the detection of the virus, while the ministry has sent NIH the samples of suspected patients.

Following the detection of the virus, hospitals in Sindh have been advised to take proactive steps for the management of suspected or confirmed cases. An advisory issued by Directorate General Health Services Sindh stated that the hospital administration is required to establish a designated separate area with five to 10 rooms for isolation of monkeypox cases within 24 hours.

The area should include appropriate infection control measures, such as negative pressure, hand hygiene facilities, and personal protective equipment to provide safe and effective care for patients. It also said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported cases of monkeypox in 110 member states across all six WHO regions since January 2022. “As of April 25, 2023, there have been 87,113 laboratory-confirmed cases and 130 deaths reported to WHO.”

The public has been urged to be vigilant for the detection of any suspected cases and ensure preparedness to launch response activities for curtailing the transmission of monkeypox disease in Sindh, it added.

The WHO says the common symptoms of monkeypox or mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2-4 weeks and are accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy, swollen lymph nodes. Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with someone who is infectious, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.

The disease is treated with supportive care. Vaccines and therapeutics developed for smallpox and approved for use in some countries can be used for mpox in some circumstances.