The National Institute of Health has confirmed a case of monkeypox in Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab. The patient had returned to Pakistan from a foreign country.

Punjab Health Minister Dr Javed Akram said that the patient’s condition is stable and he is quarantined at his home.

The team from DHQ Hospital Mandi Bahauddin sent samples to the National Institute of Health in Islamabad, and NIH confirmed the case as monkeypox, Dr Javed said.

Punjab Health Minister said that there are currently seven suspected cases of monkeypox in Punjab.

This is the third positive monkeypox case in the country. The first case was reported in Islamabad on April 25, a week ago.

On April 30, the health ministry reported that the country’s first monkeypox patient has fully recovered and been discharged from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital.

After the first monkeypox case, the Ministry of Health Services placed protocols in place that sent samples from people suspected of being infected by monkeypox to the National Institute of Health.

The ministry said that it will keep track of the situation and issued recommendations so that all airports keep screening mechanisms in place.

Sindh issues high alert

Right after the ministry of health announced the case, Sindh’s health department issued a high alert to all hospitals in the province.

Hospitals were told to create isolation groups consisting of 5-10 beds to deal with any outbreak.

What is monkeypox

The monkeypox virus, or mpox as it is called by the World Health Organisation, was discovered in 1958. A global outbreak of the virus took place in 2022-2023, so it makes sense for authorities in Pakistan to sound the alarm.

The disease is characterised by rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever although most people make a full recovery. The rashes can turn into blisters or lesions.

• rash
• fever
• sore throat
• headache
• muscle aches
• back pain
• low energy
• swollen lymph nodes

The disease is conatgious and can be passed to others and a person is only declared healed when the rashes or blisters have completely healed and a new layer of skin has formed.

This information was taken from the World Health Organisation’s Website. You can read more here.