- Qasim Ali Shah stresses Centre should take responsibility and activate its screening system at Islamabad Airport
- All four patients discharged from Isolation after they were tested negative for the virus
PESHAWAR: Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed the fifth case of the mpox virus in Peshawar in a patient who had returned from a Gulf Country on Sept 7, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Health Minister Qasim Ali Shah said in a video message.
“The fifth case, a 33-year-old patient, came to Pakistan from a Gulf country on September 7 via the Islamabad International Airport. He then traveled to Peshawar where he stayed at a hotel. Later, he went to a private clinic for treatment”, the KP minister elaborated.
Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after the new variant of the virus, Clade 1b, was identified.
The Clade 1b variant has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads through routine close contact.
However, the mpox outbreak is not another Covid-19, the WHO has said, because much is already known about the virus and the means to control it.
Health Minister Shah further said that from there, the patient was referred to the Khyber Teaching Hospital, where a public health reference lab confirmed mpox virus in the patient.
“The patient has been quarantined at his house in Lower Dir,” Shah said, adding that he did not meet any relatives after arriving from Saudi Arabia, and other than the people on his flight, he was not in contact with anyone while arriving in Pakistan.
The surveillance of the patient is being done by the Lower Dir district health officer (DHO).
“The patient’s symptoms are improving; his family members have been made aware of the spread of infection,” Shah said.
“It is a shame that the mpox patient left the biggest airport without being screened,” Shah said. “There must be so many patients that leave the Islamabad airport every day and go elsewhere in the country”.
He called on the federation to take responsibility and activate its screening system. So far, more than 66,000 patients have been screened at KP entry points.
“Until now, five cases have been confirmed after the screening of 17 suspected patients,” Shah said.
On September 1, Pakistan’s fourth mpox case was confirmed, also from Peshawar. The first three cases of the virus were all detected at the Peshawar airport.
On Sunday, the KP health officials announced that all four patients were discharged from the Isolation ward after they were tested negative for the virus.
