One day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”, Pakistan yesterday reported this year’s first case of the virus diagnosed in a man from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the patient recently returned from Saudi Arabia.
Consequently, the health ministry has ordered the Border Health Services to strictly monitor all entry points.
In the past year, Pakistan has confirmed nine cases of Mpox, all among travellers returning from the Middle East and other countries.
WHO officials confirmed the first infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden, linking it to a growing outbreak in Africa.
There have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in Congo since the current outbreak began in January 2023.
