ISLAMABAD: The administration in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad intensified screening at the city’s airport for suspected mpox cases this week, with the health ministry saying on Tuesday a suspected case from the Kashmir region had turned out to be negative.
The World Health Organization last week declared a global health emergency over the spread of a new mutated strain of mpox named clade I.
Health officials told media on Monday the one confirmed case of mpox in Pakistan was of an older, milder variant called clade II. Clade I has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact. The emergence of the new strain has been linked to a growing outbreak in Africa.
“A sample of a suspected case of mpox at PIMS Hospital was sent to the National Institute of Health,” the health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that it had come back negative.
“The 47-year-old suspect is a resident of Azad Kashmir … Effective measures are being taken to protect the public from mpox.”
Last week, Pakistan installed scanners at all airports and at border crossings with Afghanistan, China, India and Iran to report suspected infections as part of efforts to prevent the virus from spreading in the country.
“In response to the growing threat of monkeypox, the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Administration has intensified its efforts to ensure the safety of citizens,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported on Monday.
The news agency said Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon had recently inspected screening measures at the Islamabad Airport to prevent the spread of the virus and directed health officials to speed up the process and ensure that no passenger went unchecked.
“He directed that if any symptoms of monkeypox were detected, the patient would be immediately isolated and transferred to PIMS Hospital for further care,” APP said.
Memon said Islamabad’s PIMS hospital had been prepared to handle monkeypox cases, with special arrangements in place to isolate and treat affected patients.
“The hospital has also been declared an isolation management unit and a special focal person has been appointed to oversee operations related to the DC Islamabad unit,” the report said. “These steps reflected the district administration’s proactive approach to controlling the spread of monkeypox and protecting public health.”
Patients who contract mpox get flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Mpox is usually mild but can kill, and children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of complications from the infection.
Suspected mpox case returns negative as Pakistan intensifies screening at airports
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Suspected mpox case returns negative as Pakistan intensifies screening at airports
- Health ministry last week confirmed one case of mpox in a citizen who had traveled to Pakistan from abroad
- Health officials say confirmed case was of milder variant called clade II and not the more dangerous clade I
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
