After Sweden, Pakistan registers 1st case of monkeypox

At least one case of the contagious mpox virus has been detected in Pakistan as of Friday, health authorities said, without clarifying the variant of the virus.

"The first case of mpox has been confirmed in Pakistan," a spokesman for the Health Ministry said. 

Pakistan has had cases of mpox during past outbreaks.

But the news comes a day after Sweden said it detected the first case of a more dangerous strain of mpox outside the African continent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighboring countries in Africa.

Local health department says up to 3 cases of mpox detected 

The local health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province spoke of up to three cases detected in patients arriving in Pakistan from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Salim Khan, director general of health services in the province, said two patients had been confirmed to have mpox while a third has had samples sent to the National Health Institute in the capital, Islamabad, for confirmation.

He added that all three patients were in quarantine.

There have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in Africa since the current outbreak began in January 2023.