Another case of monkeypox was detected in the federal capital, taking up the total number of people in the country infected with the disease to five.

The latest patient is a 50-year-old man belonging to Faisalabad who had recently arrived in Islamabad from Makkah. He is currently being treated in an isolation ward in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.

Another patient infected with monkeypox is under treatment in the same isolation ward and both men are said to be in a stable condition.

The first case of monkey pox in the country was also reported in Islamabad on April 25. Since then, cases have been detected in Lahore and Karachi as well. Safety protocols are being enforced on airports across the country.

What is monkeypox

The monkeypox virus was discovered in Denmark (1958) in monkeys kept for research and the first reported human case of mpox was a nine-month-old boy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, 1970), according to the World Health Organisation.

A global outbreak of the virus took place in 2022-2023. The disease is characterised by rashes, enlarged lymph nodes and fever although most people make a full recovery. The rashes can turn into blisters or lesions.

Symptoms include:

• rash

• fever

• sore throat

• headache

• muscle aches

• back pain

• low energy

• swollen lymph nodes

The disease is contagious 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.