Second Case Of Mpox Virus Infection Detected In KP

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Aug, 2024) Within a gap around one week, another case of Mpox virus infection has been detected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Nowshera district.

According Director Public Health, Dr. Irshad Roghani, the infected person is 47 years old and belongs to Nowshera district.

The first case of mpox virus in KP during current year was conformed on August 15, 2014 at Mardan district.

In a video message shared here on Friday, Dr. Roghani said the infected person was detected at Peshawar airport on Thursday morning during screening of passengers coming from Gulf in an Air Arabia flight.

The screening team shifted the suspected patient to Police Hospital Peshawar for further examination and isolation.

After obtaining travel history of the patient, his blood tests were sent to Public Health Reference Laboratory of Khyber Medical University (KMU) which confirmed infection of mpox on Friday, said Director Public Health.

For genetic sequencing of mpox variant, blood sample has been sent to National Institute of Health Islamabad and finding will be shared with stakeholders including media, he added.

Dr. Roghani appreciated surveillance team over timely detection of case and isolation of patient from airport to prevent spread of the disease.

The patient is admitted at Police Hospital at isolation ward and is in good condition, he added.

Dr. Roghani said the infected patient worked as wielder and he used to live in an apartment shared by around seven persons.

The patients also shared that such symptoms were also visible in another person who lived with him in the same apartment.

On August 11, he felt fever and appearance of lesions on skin which kept on increasing. As he arrived at Peshawar, he was isolated and tested for mpox infection, Dr. Roghani continued.