Pakistan: Karachi reports three new Mpox cases
Sep 29, 2024
Karachi [Pakistan], September 29 : Three passengers who arrived from Saudi Arabia to Pakistan's Karachi airport exhibited symptoms of monkeypox during medical screening, ARY News reported on Sunday, quoting Karachi airport sources.
ARY News stated that the passengers have been transferred to the Sindh Government Hospital in NIPA area for further evaluation. Airport authorities disinfected the immigration area and walkways with spray as a precautionary measure, the sources added.
On September 20, a new suspected case of Mpox was reported at Jinnah International Airport morning when a passenger was admitted to a hospital for further evaluation.
Sources indicate that the patient, a 26-year-old man from Abbottabad who arrived from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was flagged for suspected M-Pox during a health screening upon his arrival at the airport, Dawn reported.
A doctor from the Sindh Infectious Disease Hospital and Research Centre reported, "He has presented with rashes and some lesions on his skin. He is stable," confirming that the patient is currently being monitored under medical supervision.
Earlier this month, on September 15, authorities at Jinnah International Airport reported another suspected case of monkeypox. A traveller arriving on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Jeddah exhibited symptoms indicative of the infection.
He was promptly taken to a government-run isolation ward in Sindh for additional assessment and treatment, reported Dawn.
Adding to the concern, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirmed a fifth case of monkeypox earlier this week. A 33-year-old resident of Peshawar, who returned from Saudi Arabia on September 7, was diagnosed with the virus at Khyber Teaching Hospital.
The patient is currently isolated at his home in Lower Dir, monitored by health officials.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued an urgent alert regarding an unprecedented outbreak of monkeypox affecting multiple countries. With the number of cases steadily rising, recent reports indicate at least nine confirmed cases across Pakistan, highlighting the urgent need for public health measures to combat the spread of the M-Pox virus, Dawn reported.
