According to Pakistan’s announcement on Friday, the country has identified a case of mpox. This revelation comes after Sweden reported the initial instance of infection outside of Africa, involving a new, more perilous strain of the virus that has claimed numerous lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The escalation of mpox cases in Africa, which has also impacted countries like Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, led the World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern this week, marking the most severe level of alert.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported a case of the Clade 1b subclade, the same strain causing the surge in the DRC since September 2023. This case marks the first instance of such an infection beyond Africa, as confirmed by the agency.
The specific strain of mpox responsible for the case in Pakistan was not immediately identified on Friday, as stated by the Ministry of Health. The infected individual had returned from a Gulf country, as mentioned in the official statement.
The patient in Pakistan is a 34-year-old male, confirmed as “the first recorded case of mpox this year” by Irshad Roghani, the director of public health in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the man is presently under treatment.
Genetic sequencing of the strain requires sending samples to Islamabad, according to Roghani’s statement.
– Potential Rise in Infections –
Following the detection of the case in Sweden, the WHO cautioned that more cases of the new strain entering Europe were probable. Discussions between the WHO’s European regional office in Copenhagen and Sweden are ongoing regarding the optimal management of the situation.
Stating that the confirmation of the mpox strain in Sweden underscores the global interconnectedness, the WHO emphasized against stigmatizing travelers or regions. The organization also advised against travel restrictions and border closures, asserting their ineffectiveness.
China announced plans to conduct mpox screenings on individuals and goods entering the country over the following six months.
The outbreak primarily affects the DRC, home to approximately 100 million residents. Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba disclosed nearly 16,000 suspected cases of mpox and 548 fatalities in the country this year.
Kamba mentioned the implementation of a national strategic vaccination plan against mpox and other control measures being enforced to combat the outbreak.
Previously known as monkeypox, the virus was initially identified in 1958 in Denmark among research monkeys. Human cases were first reported in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
Mpox is a contagious disease transmitted to humans through infected animals but can also spread among humans via close contact. Symptoms include fever, muscle pain, and large boil-like skin lesions.
The US Department of Health pledged to donate 50,000 doses of an mpox vaccine to the DRC, emphasizing its critical role in responding to the outbreak.
Bavarian Nordic, a Danish pharmaceutical company, confirmed readiness to produce up to 10 million doses of their mpox-targeting vaccine by 2025.
There are two virus subtypes: the more lethal Clade 1, prevalent in the Congo Basin, and Clade 2, predominant in West Africa. A global outbreak beginning in 2022 linked to the Clade 2b subclade resulted in around 140 deaths out of 90,000 cases, primarily impacting gay and bisexual men.
AFP