Health Ministry Declares High Alert Against Possible Monkeypox Outbreak

The Federal Health Ministry has ordered all national and provincial health departments to stay on high alert to deal with any suspected case of monkeypox, a rare and severe viral infection spreading worldwide.

According to the official statement, the Health Ministry is closely monitoring the global situation regarding the transmission of monkeypox and no case of viral infection has been reported in the country.

Last week, Federal Health Minister, Abdul Qadir Patel, had said that the Federal Government has directed relevant authorities to remain vigilant against the possible monkeypox outbreak in Pakistan.

The Minister had added that the Health Ministry has already ordered testing kits for the diagnosis of monkeypox, assuring that the testing kits will soon arrive in the country.

Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 in monkeys kept for research purposes. The first human case was detected in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Earlier this month, the UK was the first country to report initial cases of the most recent global monkeypox outbreak. Since then, 23 countries including the US, Canada, UAE, Israel, and Australia have detected over 250 cases of monkeypox.