Peshawar: In the Nowshera district, a second Mpox virus infection was confirmed in Khyber Pakh Tunkhwa (KP) within a week. According to Dr. Irshad Roghani, Director of Public Health, the infected person is a 47-year-old resident of Nowshera.
The first case of Mpox in KP this year was confirmed on August 15 in Mardan district. Dr. Roghani shared in a video message on Friday that the latest case was detected during passenger screening at Peshawar airport on Thursday morning. The passenger, who arrived from the Gulf on an Air Arabia flight, was immediately transferred to Police Hospital Peshawar for further tests and isolation.
After reviewing the patient’s travel history, blood samples were sent to the Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University (KMU), where the Mpox infection was confirmed on Friday. The patient’s blood sample has also been sent to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad for genetic sequencing, with results to be shared with relevant stakeholders, including the media.
Dr. Roghani praised the surveillance team for quickly identifying the case and isolating the patient to prevent the virus from spreading. The patient, who works as a welder, is in stable condition in the isolation ward at Police Hospital. He had been living in an apartment with seven other people, one of whom also showed symptoms of the virus.
On August 11, the patient experienced fever and skin lesions that worsened over time. Upon arrival in Peshawar, he was isolated and tested for Mpox, leading to the confirmation of the infection.
