Pakistan’s health ministry on Friday confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, withdrawing a previous statement that three mpox patients had been detected in the country.
Coordinator to Prime Minister for Health Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath addressed the urgency of the situation following the confirmation of a positive mpox case in the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the affected individual had recently returned from a Gulf country.
Health Ministry Spokesperson Sajid Shah said that contact tracing efforts for the infected individual of Mardan had already commenced, with additional samples being collected from potential contacts.
Shah said that that it would not be clear which variant of mpox the patient had until the process was complete.
A new form of the virus has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact. A case of the new variant was confirmed on Thursday in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent.
However, the World Health Organisation has advised against any travel restrictions to stop the spread of mpox.
The health department in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province said on Friday that one mpox case had been confirmed in the area, withdrawing a previous statement that three mpox patients had been detected there this week on arrival from the United Arab Emirates.
A health officer in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district said the location of the confirmed mpox patient, a man the officer said had recently returned from Saudi Arabia, was unknown.
He had initially received tests and advice at a hospital in the provincial capital Peshawar, Dr Javed Iqbal told Reuters, but later returned to his home a few hours away in Mardan and then went to another district.
“When we visited his home in Mardan, it was locked from outside and his neighbours told us that the family has left for Dir,” said the DHO Mardan.
“We approached our fellow colleagues of the health department in Dir district, but they couldn’t trace him even in Dir.”
The national health ministry said it was carrying out contact tracing of the patient it had identified, who they said was from Mardan. They were also boosting airport surveillance and monitoring with extra health personnel, the ministry said in a statement.
The WHO declared the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant of the virus was identified.
Health Ministry spokesperson Sajid Shah said so far they had no confirmation of the new variant, but the sequencing of the sample of the confirmed patient was underway.
“Once that’s done, we will be able to say what strain is this,” said Shah.
“Health personnel across the country will be visiting airports to oversee the screening and surveillance systems, ensuring that protocols are effectively in place. This initiative aims to bolster coordination between airport authorities and provincial health departments,” he said.
“The ministry of health remains committed to taking practical steps to safeguard the public from illnesses and outbreaks, underscoring the collective efforts being made to ensure community health safety amid the mpox threat. As the situation evolves, health officials will continue to monitor developments closely, prioritising public health and safety across the nation,” Sajid Shah said.
Global health officials on Thursday confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden and linked it to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent.
The WHO on Wednesday sounded its highest level of alert over the outbreak in Africa after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to nearby countries.
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. This year alone, the disease has killed 548 people so far in the African country.
The disease, caused by the monkeypox virus, leads to flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. It is usually mild but can kill, with children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, such as those with HIV, all at higher risk of complications.
Mpox vaccine maker seeks approval for use in teens
Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic said it was seeking European approval to use its mpox vaccine in children aged 12 to 17, after the WHO declared the current virus surge a global public health emergency.
Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine is currently only approved for people 18 years and older.
“Children and adolescents are disproportionately affected by mpox in the ongoing outbreak in Africa, highlighting the importance and urgency to broaden the access to vaccines and therapies for this vulnerable population,” Bavarian Nordic chief executive Paul Chaplin said in a statement.
The company said it had presented the European Medicines Agency with clinical data from a study which showed “non-inferiority of immune responses from mpox/smallpox vaccination in adolescents and (a) similar safety profile compared to adults.”
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted the vaccine an “emergency use authorisation” for adolescents during the 2022 global mpox outbreak.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that two more cases of mpox were detected in KP. The error is regretted.
