Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah has ordered emergency measures after a 47-year-old man from Nowshera tested positive for mpox, previously called monkeypox.

“… Instructions were given to establish emergency isolation and screening wards at Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, district headquarters hospital and Mian Rashid Memorial Hospital, the largest teaching hospital in Nowshera,” he said in a post on X on Saturday.

“Isolation and screening wards will be set up at three hospitals Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex, DHQ Hospital, and Mian Rashid Memorial Hospital in Pabbi.”

This brings the total number of mpox cases in Pakistan to three after the second reported in Peshawar on Friday.

The development comes a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the recent global outbreak of the disease as a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO noted that the new Clade 1b variant of the virus is spreading more easily through routine close contact.

The health agency has emphasised that the mpox outbreak “is not on the same scale as the Covid-19 pandemic,” as much is already known about the virus and the means to control it.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s health ministry clarified that the country’s first mpox case belonged to the Clade 2 variety, and no Clade 1b infections have been reported so far.

KP Health Minister Qasim stressed the importance of such precautions, urging citizens to stay vigilant and seek medical attention if they experience symptoms related to Monkeypox.

“Apart from this, trained staff will be on 24-hour duty to establish an effective system of screening and surveillance in the isolation wards.”