KP Reports Third Confirmed Case of Monkeypox

In just two weeks, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported a third confirmed case of monkeypox. Director of Public Health, Dr. Irshad Roghani, announced that a 51-year-old traveler from Orakzai district showed symptoms of the virus upon arrival at Bacha Khan Airport, after returning from abroad.

According to Dr. Roghani, medical teams at the airport identified the suspected patient during routine passenger screening. The individual was immediately transferred to Police Line Hospital in Peshawar for diagnostic testing.

He added that blood samples were promptly collected by the Rapid Response teams at Police Lines Hospital and sent to the Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University (KMU), where the infection was confirmed.

The patient is in stable condition and is currently receiving treatment in the Isolation Ward of Police Line Hospital. This marks the third confirmed case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within two weeks.

The first case in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this year was detected on August 15, 2024, just a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a public health emergency of international concern due to the escalating outbreak in Africa and the emergence of a new virus variant in several countries.

All the confirmed cases in KP involve travelers recently returning to Pakistan from abroad.

The first case was reported by a resident of the Mardan district, followed by a second case in Nowshera, and the third in a traveler from Orakzai district. Genetic sequencing of the first two cases confirmed that the patients were infected with the Clade 2B strain of the virus.