First monkeypox virus case confirmed

PESHAWAR: Pakistan has detected the first positive patient with the monkeypox virus, Director General Health and Services of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Salim Khan confirmed to The News on Friday.

The KP government has established an isolation facility for suspected Mpox cases in the Police Services Hospital in Peshawar.

There were, however, conflicting reports about the number of patients diagnosed with the monkeypox virus.

DG Health and Services Dr Khan had earlier told The News that two patients had been diagnosed with the Mpox virus and they had a travel history of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

He stated that samples of the third patient had been sent to the National Institute of Health laboratory in Islamabad for confirmation.

“I can confirm to you two positive cases of monkeypox while samples of the third patient have been sent to the NIH laboratory in Islamabad and results are awaited. All these three patients returned from UAE and are quarantined,” said Dr Salim Khan, DG Health and Services Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Later, the Health Department announced that the third patient had also been confirmed positive for the Mpox virus at the NIH.

However, Dr Irshad Roghani, Director of public Health, later issued a statement saying that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had reported only a single patient of Mpox, saying it was the first case of 2024, both in Pakistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the two other positive cases were reported in 2023.

The officials of the KP Health Department had earlier stated that two positive patients of Mpox were detected upon their arrival from UAE in the Bacah Khan International Airport in Peshawar.

They said that both of them were quarantined. Senior officials of the Health Department told The News on condition of anonymity that there were some instructions from high diplomatic officials that the name of the country should not be mentioned if the passengers are diagnosed with the disease upon their arrival from those countries.

Dr Roghani stated in a statement that the patient diagnosed with the Mpox virus had a travel history from Saudi Arabia. However, Sajid Hussain, a spokesman for the Federal Health Ministry, told The News that only one patient from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had tested positive for the Mpox virus.

He however said that the patient had a travel history of UAE.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the recent outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern after a new variant of the virus has been identified.

The health department officials in Peshawar have stated that the patients were quarantined.

Upon investigation, no patient was quarantined in any health facility of the provincial capital city.

The story of the first positive patient is also very interesting.

District Health Officer Mardan, Dr Javed Iqbal told The News that the patient was admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar for the treatment of his fractured leg.

“This patient had recently returned from Saudi Arabia and had settled in Mardan. He was taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar for his fractured leg where he had felt some skin issues and was sent to the Dermatology Department of the same hospital for their opinion,” said Dr Iqbal.

He said the dermatologists in KTH felt something serious in his skin and they took his samples and sent them to the National Institute of Health laboratory in Islamabad where he was diagnosed with the monkeypox virus.

Sajjad Khan, a spokesman for KTH, said the doctors in KTH had properly explained to him and his attendants about the disease and its impact on other people and were advised to quarantine him.

The patient was discharged from the hospital and was taken to their home in Manga town of Mardan district.

However, Dr Iqbal and his team visited their home in Manga, they found it locked from the outside and the neighbours informed them that they had gone to Lower Dir district.

Since the patient had originally belonged to the Lower Dir district of the Malakand region, and settled in Mardan, the officials noted that they might have disappeared from the media.

DHO Mardan Dr Iqbal said they had approached their colleagues in the Health Department in Dir district, but they couldn’t trace him even in Dir. He said their basic concern was that the patient to be properly quarantined so that he couldn’t infect others.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Syed Qasim Ali Shah, has expressed serious concern over the recent confirmation of an Mpox case in Mardan.

In response, the minister has directed the Department of Health to take immediate and effective measures to prevent the spread of the disease. He instructed Dr Roghani, to prioritise surveillance, contact tracing, and the monitoring of the patient's movements.

Shah also highlighted that border health services teams have been deployed at the Pak-Afghan border and airports to ensure the screening of all incoming passengers, particularly those suspected of carrying the symptoms.

Providing further details, Dr Roghani confirmed that the first Mpox case of 2024 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been reported in a patient from Mardan.

The patient is experiencing mild symptoms and has been quarantined at home. Contact tracing efforts are currently underway, with the Department of Health monitoring those who have come into contact with the patient.

Dr Roghani added that isolation wards are being set up for Mpox patients, and screening of all suspected travellers from abroad, particularly from Gulf countries, is ongoing. The Department of Health has already issued an advisory for the public and healthcare workers, and WHO has declared Mpox an emergency.

Since 2022, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has confirmed three cases of Mpox. Two patients have already recovered, while samples from the current active case have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for further analysis.

The WHO on Wednesday declared the outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of international concern or PHEIC after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to nearby countries. A PHEIC is WHO's highest level of alert.

There have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in Congo since the current outbreak began in January 2023.