PESHAWAR: According to officials on Monday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department checked more than 15,000 travelers for mpox at the airport and border crossing into Torkham, but found no signs of the viral infection.
They further disclosed that the strain of mpox discovered in the recently confirmed case from Mardan district was identified as clade 2B of the virus by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad.
At the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, officials informed the province Outbreak and Response Committee, which was presided over by Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah, that passenger screening for mpox was underway.
They said that despite screening over 5,000 persons at the Torkham border and over 10,000 passengers from 83 aircraft at Peshawar airport, none of the individuals showed signs of mpox.
In a verified case of Mardan infection, NIH discovers the clade 2B strain.
The 34-year-old Mardan patient with mpox was also reported to have been in a car accident in Saudi Arabia on August 3. He returned to Pakistan on August 10 and went to the Khyber Teaching Hospital in Peshawar to receive treatment for a broken leg, according to the officials.
They did, however, add that the individual was referred to Dr. Mehran Khan, the chief of the dermatology department, who suggested testing since he suspected mpox.
According to the officials, the man’s material was forwarded to the Khyber Medical University Public Health Reference Laboratory, which identified the viral infection in him.
They added that the Mardan Medical Complex’s isolation unit for suspected cases of mpox was set up right away by the health authorities.
A blood sample from Mardan’s mpox case was sent to the NIH for genetic sequencing, whose results were disclosed on Monday and identified the strain as clade 2B, which originated in West Africa, according to director of public health Dr. Irshad Roghani, who was also present at the conference.
Three cases of mpox have been reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the past two years—two this year and one previous year—all of which have traveled to Saudi Arabia.
The Directorate General of Health Services has set up a control room and launched fast response teams, the director informed the participants.
He continued by saying that the outbreak committee was strengthening disease surveillance systems at the district level by setting up control rooms.
The World Health Organization announced on August 14 that mpox was a “public health emergency of international concern.” Senior health officials including director general (health), Dr. Mohammad Saleem, were also present at the conference.
According to officials, unprotected sexual intercourse, direct touch with blisters or rashes of sick individuals, and respiratory droplets are the three main ways that zoonotic illness spreads from animals to humans.
They said that up until 2022, mpox outbreaks will only occur in Central and West Africa, with the first incidence being documented in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970.
As of yet, 3,527 instances have been found in Asian nations, including China and Vietnam, according to the officials.
They claimed that all healthcare professionals in the province were routinely provided with advisories, guidelines, and case management protocols by the health department.
According to the officials, district headquarters hospitals were establishing isolation wards, and private hospitals were instructed to do the same by means of the Healthcare Commission.
The minister emphasized that the media should work to raise public awareness about mpox in order to stop its spread and advised people to keep their distance from one another and use caution when interacting and gathering.
He stated that in order to guarantee prompt testing of individuals exhibiting signs of mpox, the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System must continue to function.
