Fifth mpox case slips through Islamabad airport, detected in Peshawar later

ISLAMABAD/ PESHAWAR: A 35-year-old labourer, infected with mpox, arrived at the Islamabad International Airport on Sept 7, 2024, and walked out unchecked, shocked federal health authorities revealed on Wednesday.

Despite exhibiting clear symptoms of mpox, the man passed through health screenings at the airport without being flagged, raising serious concerns about the competence of Border Health Services (BHS) officials. He was later tested positive for mpox in Peshawar, marking the first confirmed case to have arrived at Islamabad but detected elsewhere. So far, six people have tested positive for mpox in Pakistan, five of whom were detected after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on August 14, 2024. All the cases involved patients who contracted the virus in two Middle Eastern countries.

The labourer, who contracted the virus while working in a Middle Eastern country, chose to return to Pakistan rather than seek treatment abroad to avoid deportation. Upon arrival at Islamabad airport on Sept 7, he was neither questioned nor examined by the BHS staff, despite showing visible symptoms, officials from the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination (NHS,R&C) confirmed. “He knew he was infected and flew back to Pakistan to avoid deportation, but the authorities at Islamabad airport failed to detect his condition. It was only after he travelled to Peshawar and sought medical attention at Khyber Medical University, a National Institute of Health (NIH)-designated lab confirmed he was infected with mpox.

Previous mpox cases were all detected at the Peshawar airport, sparking concerns about the effectiveness of screening protocols at Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore — the country’s three busiest airports, which handle most flights from mpox-affected regions. Public health experts and officials have criticised the inconsistent performance of BHS, which has failed to detect a single case at these major entry points.