After Sweden, Pakistan has become the second country to report the confirmed case of mpox infection outside Africa. Pakistan has detected three patients with the mpox virus, the health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said on Friday. The viral infection was detected in the patients on their arrival from the United Arab Emirates, the department said. The World Health Organization has declare recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after a new variant of the virus has been identified.
According to a report by Pakistani news site The Express Tribune, the Ministry of National Health officials said that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa resident is showing mild symptoms. The health officials have now launched an urgent tracing initiative to track every single person who came in contact of patient zero. According to the World Health Organization data, as of July 2024, over 14,000 cases have been reported in Africa.
Also Read: Sweden reports first case of contagious mpox strain outside Africa
Though rare, the mpox infection can be fatal in some cases. This year, 527 people have died due to the mpox viral infection. The WHO said that the 2024 numbers have already surpassed last year’s tally. Originally named ‘monkeypox’, this infection was initially identified in monkeys back in 1958. As per WHO, mpox is from “Orthopoxvirus genus” of viruses family. Mpox is very similar to smallpox, which has now been eradicated.