Just a day after an alert was issued to stop the possible spread of diseases through international travelers, Pakistan on Thursday reported the first case of monkeypox this year diagnosed in a Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) citizen who recently returned home from Saudi Arabia.
Federal Health Ministry officials said the youth belongs to Dir and is currently residing in Mardan. The infected man was diagnosed with Mpox after his return from the kingdom on August 3, they added.
Health Ministry officials further said they had collected more samples from people who had been in contact with the affected man. The Ministry subsequently also ordered the Border Health Services to initiate strict monitoring of all entry points.
To take further steps to stop its spread, an important session was held at the Ministry of Health under the chairmanship of the Director General of Health where advice and guidelines on Mpox were issued.
Provinces have been directed to designate focal persons to monitor and report on progress in detecting the disease.
It is worth mentioning here that a day ago the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the recent spread of monkeypox a global emergency.
Last year, Pakistan confirmed nine cases of Mpox, all among travellers returning from the Middle East and other countries. Tragically, one patient, who was co-infected with HIV and Mpox, later died in Islamabad.
During the NCOC special session on Mpox, it was noted that around 15 African countries are currently reporting Mpox cases, with a total of 2,030 confirmed cases. Four countries (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda), which were previously unaffected by Mpox, have reported cases since mid-July 2024.
According to NIH officials, WHO reported that from January 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024, a cumulative total of 99,176 laboratory-confirmed Mpox cases, including 208 deaths, have been reported in 162 countries across all six WHO regions.
In June 2024 alone, 934 new cases were reported, the majority of which came from the African region (61%), followed by the Americas region (19%) and the European region (11%).
WHO has noted a decline in case reporting, meaning that recent trends in Mpox cases should be interpreted with caution. WHO continues to encourage all countries to ensure that Mpox is a notifiable disease and to report cases, even when no cases have been detected (known as “zero reporting”).
