Pakistan Reports New Monkeypox Cases Amid Global Health Alert

Pakistan Reports New Monkeypox: On August 16, Pakistan's health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province announced that three cases of monkeypox (Mpox) had been identified. The cases were found in individuals who had recently arrived from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Reuters.

Current Situation in Pakistan

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently declared the Mpox outbreak a global health emergency after a new variant was discovered in Sweden. Pakistan has faced Mpox cases before, but it’s not yet known which variant the new patients have.

Salim Khan, the director general of health services for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, confirmed that two of the patients have been diagnosed with Mpox, while the third patient's infection is still awaiting confirmation from the National Health Institute in Islamabad. All three patients are currently in quarantine.

A spokesperson from Pakistan's national health ministry mentioned that there is one suspected Mpox case in addition to these three confirmed cases.

Global Concerns

On August 15, global health officials reported a new Mpox strain in Sweden, which is linked to an ongoing outbreak in Africa. This new case is the first indication of Mpox spreading beyond Africa, coming just after the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on August 14.

Also read: WHO Declares Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency: Key Symptoms and What You Need

Since the outbreak began in 2023, there have been at least 27,000 Mpox cases and over 1,100 deaths, mostly among children, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding areas. Mpox symptoms include a painful rash, swollen lymph nodes, and fever, which can make some people severely ill.