KARACHI: Authorities in Sindh on Thursday confirmed the first case of mpox (previously known as monkeypox) in the province, taking the national tally to three.

According to the provincial health department, the patient, 36, had arrived from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is currently under treatment at Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where his condition was said to be stable.

The patient, a resident of the Johi area of Dadu district, has been working as a driver in the Gulf nation.

He initially developed a low-grade fever in Makkah on April 20 and skin lesions a few days later, according to health department officials.

“He was treated as a suspected case of monkeypox soon after he arrived in Karachi on May 3. Currently, he has mild fever on and off with cold at night and lesions all over the body, particularly in the genital area,” an official told Dawn.

He is being treated symptomatically, as there was no specific treatment for the disease, according to an official.

The authorities are tracing people who came into the patient’s contact and he would remain quarantined till his symptoms are cleared.

In a tweet on Thursday, the National Institute of Health (NIH) said that so far three mpox cases have been reported.

The federal health ministry, along with the National Command and Operation Center was vigilantly monitoring the situation, while keeping all the relevant stakeholders on board for ensuring preparedness, timely response, and containment of mpox cases in Pakistan, the NIH said.

According to officials, the two previous cases, reported in Islamabad, have now fully recovered.

Health authorities have been on alert since the first case was reported last month.

All three patients who tested positive for the virus had arrived from Saudi Arabia.

So far, there have been no signs of local transmission of the virus, health authorities have said.

Mpox can be transmitted to humans through physical contact with someone infectious, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.

According to the WHO, mpox is a viral illness. Common symptoms of the illness are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last two to four weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.

Ikram Junaidi in Islamabad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2023