Authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have confirmed four new Mpox cases, including a couple, and none of the patients has a history of foreign travel. Officials said the detections have raised concern about possible local transmission of the virus in the province.
One woman and three men tested positive and were sent home to remain in isolation. Two patients are from Nowshera; the others are from Peshawar and Mardan. The health department has planned contact tracing and testing of their close relatives.
How the cases were confirmed
Samples from suspected patients referred by Khyber Teaching Hospital last week were tested at the Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University, which handles infectious-disease testing. Officials said the samples tested positive for Mpox on Saturday.
According to the health department’s Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System, the latest detections take the province’s Mpox tally for the current year to 18. Of those, one patient has died and 13 have recovered. Doctors said the person who died may have had other serious health conditions alongside Mpox.
Why doctors call the situation alarming
Earlier Mpox cases in the province were mainly linked to international travel, with people contracting the infection abroad before entering Pakistan. The province recorded its first Mpox case in 2023, when a resident working as a driver in Saudi Arabia tested positive after arriving at the airport.
Doctors have described the latest pattern as alarming because of the possibility of community transmission. They have called for stronger infection prevention, including isolation rooms in hospitals, and for wider screening in areas where the new cases were reported. A health expert said infection-control measures need to be strengthened and the reuse of syringes stopped, adding that more infections could be found if screening expands in the affected areas.
Health officials said the department has already issued guidelines to hospitals, especially in affected districts, to collect samples from suspected patients for laboratory confirmation and to keep surveillance tight through timely diagnosis.
Symptoms, spread and precautions
Prof Mehran Khan, associate professor and chairman of the dermatology department at Khyber Teaching Hospital, said Mpox typically begins with fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. The rash, he said, moves from flat spots to raised bumps, then fluid-filled and pus-filled lesions, before forming crusts that eventually fall off.
He said the virus can spread through direct contact with an infected person’s blood, bodily fluids or skin and mucosal lesions, and through contaminated items such as bedding. Doctors said the risk can be reduced by avoiding direct contact with affected people, wearing face masks and following recommended precautions.
They also said that in Pakistan only the Clade-I form of the Mpox virus—one of the main genetic groups of the pathogen—has been found so far, and that Clade-II has not been reported in the country. Dermatologists noted that the World Health Organisation (WHO), the UN health agency, declared Mpox a public health emergency of international concern on 14 August 2024 after a global rise in cases.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2023: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa records its first Mpox case, in a resident who had been working as a driver in Saudi Arabia and tested positive after landing at the airport.
- January (this year): Two cases reported in Swabi.
- February: Four cases—two in Buner and one each in Abbottabad and Lower Chitral.
- March–August: One case each in Peshawar (March), Karak (April), Upper Chitral (July) and Mardan (August).
- 14 August 2024: WHO declares Mpox a public health emergency of international concern.
- September: Four cases—three in Peshawar and one in Upper Dir—before the latest four detections take the yearly provincial tally to 18.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa mein chaar naye Mpox ke cases mile hain, jismein ek jora bhi shamil hai. In mein se kisi ne bahar travel nahi kiya tha, is liye doctors local phelao ka khauf zahir kar rahe hain. Mareez ghar mein isolation mein hain aur health department un ke qareebi rishtedaron ki testing kare ga. Bukhar, dard aur khas skin rash ho to foran doctor se rabta karein aur seedha contact avoid karein.
