• Pakistan is screening all incoming travellers for mpox after detecting a new case, with officials assuring there is no cause for panic.
• The country has reported 11 mpox cases in the past year and is conducting genetic sequencing on the latest case as the WHO declares a global health emergency.
Pakistani authorities have begun screening all incoming travelers for the mpox virus as a precautionary measure after a positive case was detected this month.
Scanners have been installed at airports and border crossings with Afghanistan, China, India, and Iran to identify suspected infections, Prime Minister’s National Health Coordinator Malik Mukhtar Ahmed announced Saturday at a news conference in Islamabad.
“There is no point to panic,” Ahmed said, adding that Pakistan has enough vaccine kits. “We don’t foresee any emergency related to the infection.”
Over the past year, Pakistan has identified 11 mpox cases, the most recent of which was confirmed on August 13 in a 34-year-old man who had traveled from Saudi Arabia. One of the infected individuals later succumbed to other illnesses, according to an official statement.
The World Health Organisation declared a global health emergency this week in response to the spread of a mutated strain of mpox. Pakistan is currently conducting genetic sequencing to identify the variant in the latest case.
