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The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has confirmed a new case of mpox in the Khyber tribal district, bringing the province's total to eight cases in 2025, as reported by Dawn.
This marks the second mpox case in Khyber district. The first case, earlier this year, involved a resident who contracted the virus in the United Arab Emirates. With the new case, the region has reported 17 mpox cases over the past three years, as cited by Dawn. The patient, a 31-year-old man, was screened at Bacha Khan International Airport as he was departing for Dubai. Health authorities suspected the individual and collected a sample, which was then tested at the Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University (KMU). The test confirmed the presence of the mpox virus, The Dawn reported. The patient arrived in Pakistan on April 16 and was promptly isolated at Services Hospital in Peshawar to prevent the virus from spreading. Following the confirmation, the health department directed the district health officer in Khyber to conduct surveillance and contact tracing. Health experts emphasised the importance of isolating confirmed cases in either home or hospital settings until full recovery is confirmed through follow-up testing. The province has seen a total of 17 mpox cases since 2023, including eight this year, seven in 2024, and two in 2023. The majority of these cases are linked to travel from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, where the virus is endemic. Authorities have implemented rigorous screening measures for passengers arriving from these countries at Bacha Khan International Airport. Suspected individuals are immediately isolated and tested, with those who test negative being released, while positive cases remain isolated, the Dawn reported. Health experts have praised the active screening efforts at the airport, which have successfully identified all infected individuals before the disease could spread further within the community. They highlighted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's approach to managing the disease through airport screenings and immediate isolation has been more effective than in other provinces. (ANI)
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