Suspected monkeypox case surface in Mardan

PESHAWAR: A suspected case of monkeypox has been reported in the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department director public health, the individual in question recently returned from a Gulf country.

A sample has been sent to the National Institute of Health Islamabad for confirmation of the virus, he said adding that the person affected by monkeypox is experiencing mild symptoms. Contact tracing has begun, and additional samples are being collected from others who may have been exposed to the affected person.

A spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department stated that the federal health ministry has instructed all provinces to appoint focal persons for monkeypox and for Border Health Services to strictly monitor all entry points.

Meanwhile, the director general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has issued an advisory, based on instructions from the National Institute of Health Islamabad, advising district health officers, directors of medical superintendents, and MTI hospitals across the province to implement preventive measures against monkeypox.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared mpox a global public health emergency after an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to neighbouring countries.