The government has issued special instructions to national and provincial health authorities and asked them to go on high alert for any suspected case of monkeypox, reported Radio Pakistan on Monday.

Meanwhile, officials rejected information circulating on social media about suspected cases of monkeypox in Pakistan, saying the health authorities were closely monitoring the situation, according to an official of the Ministry of National Health Services.

“No case of monkeypox has yet been diagnosed in Pakistan so far,” he said quoting a report of the National Institute of Health.

Last week, the Sindh Health Department issued an alert to all hospitals on the probable spread of monkeypox. By then 111 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus had been reported in the US and Britain.

Monkeypox is usually a mild virus that causes fever as well as a bumpy rash. It is mostly transmitted to people from animals, humans or materials contaminated with the virus.

The United Arab Emirates recorded three more cases of monkeypox on Monday, nearly a week after announcing the Gulf state’s first case of the virus.

The health ministry did not reveal any details about the individuals infected. The first case was a 29-year-old woman visiting the country from West Africa.

Out of 61 suspected cases of monkeypox reported in Nigeria since January, 21 had been confirmed with one death, that of a 40-year-old man.

Globally, more than 200 suspected and confirmed cases of the virus were detected in at least 19 countries since early May, mostly in Europe. However, so far no death of the virus was reported.