Pakistan Responds with Increased Surveillance and Monitoring
A Pakistani national from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was diagnosed with the virus after returning from Saudi Arabia on August 3. Authorities have collected samples from his contacts and implemented strict monitoring at border entry points.
This is not the first time Pakistan has dealt with mpox, having confirmed 9 cases last year among travelers from the Middle East and other regions. One person co-infected with HIV died.
Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported a cumulative total of 99,176 confirmed mpox cases from January 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024, with the majority in the African region. In June 2024 alone, 934 new cases were reported.
Sweden also recently confirmed Europe’s first case of the more dangerous Clade 1 variant of mpox, in a person who had traveled to an African region with a major mpox outbreak.
