Pakistan reports 1st case of monkeypox virus

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan has reported the first case of monkeypox virus in the country, with the Healthy Ministry on Tuesday announcing "health regulations" at all airports to prevent the disease from spreading.

A ministry spokesperson said in a statement that the National Health Services Department in the capital Islamabad confirmed the case on Monday, involving an adult male patient.

Though the statement provided no further details on the patient, a source in the Health Ministry told Anadolu that a man deported from Saudi Arabia carried the infection to Pakistan.

It said the ministry's Border and Health Services unit was closely monitoring the situation, adding that airport authorities across the country have been issued instructions to strictly implement regulations to contain the virus.

Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus. Patients often start exhibiting symptoms with a fever, enlarged lymph nodes, back pain, and muscle aches before a rash appears on the skin, according to the World Health Organization.

The US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported over 86,000 viral disease cases since January 2022 all over the world. During the same time period, 119 people died.

Last year, the World Health Organization renamed monkeypox to mpox, saying the name of the disease acted as "racist and stigmatizing language."

Both names will be used simultaneously for one year while the term "monkeypox" is phased out, it added.