Pakistan Detects Case of Mpox Virus
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pakistan has confirmed at least one case of the mpox virus, a day after Sweden confirmed an infection with a more easily spread and deadlier variant linked to a recent outbreak in Africa.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Health said in a statement on Friday that the mpox strain that had caused the confirmed case was not immediately known.
Irshad Roghani, director of public health in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the 34-year-old patient is being treated, said samples had been sent to Islamabad for genetic sequencing to ascertain which variant of the virus the patient contracted.
On Thursday, Sweden announced it had discovered a more dangerous variant of the virus, named Clade 1, in an infected patient.
Clade 1, which spreads more easily through close contact, is linked to a deadly surge of the virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that began in September. The Swedish case marks the first such infection outside the African continent, according to Sweden’s Public Health Agency.
A statement from the agency quoted epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen as saying the patient had been infected during a visit to “the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox Clade 1”.
An earlier outbreak in 2022 was linked to a milder variant, known as Clade 2, endemic in West Africa. It caused about 140 deaths and 90,000 cases, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men, Al Jazeera reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern on Wednesday over the spread of Clade 1 in Africa after a surge in the DRC spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
It said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in Africa caused by mpox this year, which already exceed last year’s figures. More than 96 percent of all cases and deaths have been in the DRC.
After the discovery of the case in Sweden, the WHO said it reflected “the interconnectedness of our world” and further imported cases of the new strain in Europe were likely
The organization has advised against any travel restrictions and border closures to stop the spread of mpox, saying they “don’t work and should be avoided”.