Mpox virus detected in Pakistan, days after WHO declared it a global health emergency
Pakistan has detected three cases of Mpox virus, previously known as monkeypox virus, the health department in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province said on Friday, reported news agency Reuters.
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Aug 16, 2024
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The health department in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, announced on Friday that three cases of the Mpox virus, formerly known as monkeypox virus, had been found, according to news agency Reuters. Which variants the patients have been infected with are still unknown, though.
This occurs two days after the World Health Organization (WHO), in response to a rise in the disease's cases in Africa, declared a global health emergency.
Here is what we know so far:
1.Patients from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were the first to contract mpox in Pakistan.
2.Two individuals have been proven to be infected with the virus, according to the director general of health services in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and samples from a third patient have been submitted to the National Health Institute in Islamabad for confirmation, as reported by Reuters reported.
3.At the moment, all three patients are under quarantine.
4.A case of the novel Mpox virus has also been reported from Sweden in the meantime. According to Bloomberg, the individual contracted the infection while visiting a region of Africa where the novel strain is expanding.
5.Since the current outbreak started in January 2023, there have been 27,000 cases and over 1,100 deaths in Congo, the most of which have been among youngsters.
What is Mpox and its symptoms?
The virus that causes mpox is the monkeypox virus, which is a member of the orthopoxvirus genus. Scientists discovered the virus for the first time in 1958 when outbreaks of a monkey sickness resembling the pox occurred. According to AP, until recently, the majority of human cases were observed in individuals in central and west Africa who had intimate contact with infected animals.
Though it has less severe symptoms, mpox is related to smallpox in terms of viruses.
Mpox infections frequently result in a rash that might appear on the hands, feet, chest, face, lips, or in close proximity to the genital regions. Before curing, the rash eventually turns into large, pus-filled white or yellow pimples called pustules and scabs.
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