Pakistan reports 3rd case of monkeypox

Pakistan has reported a third case of monkeypox virus in the country, a health official confirmed on Thursday.

The case, involving an adult male, has been reported in the port city of Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province, Mehar Khursheed, a spokeswoman for the provincial health department, told Anadolu.

Like the previous two cases reported late last month in the capital Islamabad, the patient has also returned from Saudi Arabia recently.

A traveler who was working as a driver in Jeddah and made his way back to Pakistan via Oman tested positive for monkeypox, Khursheed said.

The patient has been isolated after he showed symptoms-fever for seven days, and maculopapular rashes on the back for the last five days, she said, adding that his contact tracing is underway.

Airport authorities across the country have already 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 and 119 deaths since January 2022 all over the world.

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.

According to WHO, mpox is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmitted from animals to humans, with cases often found close to tropical rainforests where there are animals that carry the virus. Evidence of monkeypox virus infection has been found in animals including squirrels, Gambian pouched rats, dormice, different species of monkeys, and others.