PESHAWAR:
A patient who managed to bypass screening at Islamabad Airport has been confirmed to have mpox.
The disease was discovered when the patient visited a hospital in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
According to sources, the 33-year-old patient traveled from a Gulf country and arrived in Pakistan via Islamabad Airport on September 7. The patient then traveled to Peshawar, staying at a hotel.
The following day, he visited a private clinic for treatment and was subsequently referred to Khyber Teaching Hospital, where his condition came to light.
Samples were taken from the patient and sent to the Public Health Reference Lab, where the presence of the Mpox virus was confirmed. The patient has been quarantined at his home in Lower Dir. It is reported that after arriving from Saudi Arabia, the patient had no contact with any relatives and only interacted with passengers on the flight.
Surveillance of the patient is being carried out under the supervision of the district health officer (DHO) in Lower Dir, and the patient’s symptoms are improving. His family has been informed about precautions to prevent the spread of infection.
K-P Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah expressed regret over the poor screening system at Islamabad Airport. He questioned how a patient with mpox could leave the country’s largest airport without being screened. He raised concerns that many such patients could be traveling to different regions of the country from Islamabad Airport daily.
He also emphasised that due to strong surveillance and screening in K-P, no mpox case has gone undetected in the province. “The federal government must take responsibility and improve its screening system.” More than 66,000 people have been screened at Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s entry points, with five cases of Mpox confirmed out of 17 suspected cases.
In a video message, he questioned the negligence at Islamabad International Airport, where a confirmed mpox patient managed to exit the airport without undergoing proper health screening.
Shah lamented the lack of adequate surveillance at the airport. “How can the federal authorities be so negligent in the face of such a major outbreak?” he questioned.
