A new pox virus infection was reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to four.
Dr Irshad Roghani, Director of Public Health KP, informed the media that a traveller returning from abroad was stopped at Bacha Khan airport after showing symptoms of the pox virus. The health department’s medical screening teams transferred the traveller to Police Lines Hospital.
Lab tests confirmed that the 47-year-old patient, a resident of Peshawar district, is infected with the pox virus. The patient, who recently returned from abroad, is currently in stable condition and receiving treatment at the designated hospital for pox patients in KP.
Dr Roghani noted that all four pox cases in KP are travellers who returned from abroad in the past few weeks. No residents have been infected so far.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is a viral infection related to smallpox. Those infected with pox typically develop a rash and other symptoms, with the rash progressing through several stages before healing. Mpox is not connected to chickenpox.
The virus is spreading rapidly in some African countries, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern on August 14, 2024, due to the emergence of a new variant.
Genetic testing of the first two mpox cases in KP revealed that they were infected with the Clade 2B strain, a variant of Clade 2 known to cause milder symptoms than the more concerning Clade 1 strain.
