PESHAWAR: Fourteen cases of the chikungunya virus have been reported in the northwestern Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the last one week, health officials said, bringing the total tally of cases to 28 for the year 2024.
Chikungunya virus spreads to people through the bite of an infected mosquito. The most common symptoms of infection are fever and joint pain. Other symptoms may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling or a rash.
The health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, of which Peshawar is the capital, ordered preventive measures in September this year after more than a dozen cases of chikungunya were reported in Mansehra district.
“In the past one week, we have received at least 14 cases of chikungunya in the Shamshato Camp of the Ormur neighborhood in Peshawar,” the spokesperson for the Public Health Department, Atta Ullah, told Arab News on Monday. “Total 28 cases of chikungunya have been reported in 2024.”
Habib Ullah Safi, whose 11-year-old daughter had the virus, said she experienced “pains and high temperature.”
“When the tests were conducted, we came to know that she had this disease,” he told Arab News, saying the symptoms continued for at least 5 days but his daughter was feeling well now.
“Chikungunya isn’t a new disease for us, it was a notifiable disease and once we got the reports we timely approached and responded,” Dr. Arsalan Manzoor, a surveillance officer for the chikungunya virus in Peshawar, told Arab News.
“On the instruction of the health department, we immediately went to Shamshato Camp of Ormur and collected the samples and more cases were reported.”
He said a “large number of larvae” had been identified in the locality and awareness sessions were thus conducted “to sensitise locals about prevention.”
“After several visits to the locality, we also held a free medical camp last week,” Manzoor added.
KP province reported 4,034 dengue cases this year with three death, while 747 dengue cases were reported in 2023 and no deaths.
Manzoor explained that chikungunya symptoms were similar to dengue but milder.
“Chikungunya patient recovers a bit better than dengue,” he said. “It takes 4 to 7 days to recover from chikungunya while dengue recovery can take up to two weeks even.”
28 cases of chikungunya virus reported in northwest Pakistan in 2024 — officials
https://arab.news/6v97x
28 cases of chikungunya virus reported in northwest Pakistan in 2024 — officials
- Chikungunya virus spreads to people through bite of an infected mosquito
- Fourteen cases of chikungunya reported in Peshawar in the last one week
A family, a recipe, a city: ras malai dessert defines a Sialkot institution
- Founded in 1947, Inayat Sweets draws devotees from across Pakistan and abroad for a dessert steeped in tradition
- Customers and shop owners say decades-old methods, pure ingredients have kept taste unchanged across generations
SIALKOT: In the narrow streets of Pakistan’s eastern city of Sialkot — best known globally for footballs stitched by hand and precision surgical instruments — a modest sweet shop has quietly built a reputation that stretches far beyond the city.
For nearly eight decades, Inayat Sweets has drawn crowds for a single dessert: ras malai, a soft, milk-based delicacy that occupies a special place in South Asian food culture.
Ras malai, traditionally made from fresh cheese patties gently simmered and soaked in lightly sweetened milk, is prized for its delicate texture and subtle richness. It is often reserved for celebrations, family gatherings and moments of indulgence. At Inayat Sweets, customers say, it has become something closer to ritual.
The shop’s story began in 1947, the year British colonial rule ended and the Indian subcontinent was partitioned, when its founder migrated from India and set up a small business selling milk and yogurt in the newly formed Pakistan.
Today, the legacy is carried forward by Abdul Rashid, who runs the shop much as his grandfather once did.
“My grandfather opened this shop in 1947 when he migrated from India. It was a very small business. Basically, we were selling milk and yogurt,” Rashid told Arab News.
Over time, the offerings expanded, but one item emerged as the shop’s defining identity.
“Our most famous item is ras malai, ” Rashid said. “Then we have winter halwas [confection] like carrot halwa, pumpkin halwa, egg halwa, beans halwa etc.”
Rashid says the secret behind the shop’s longevity lies less in innovation than in discipline, and a refusal to compromise on ingredients.
“All sweets have the same sugar and ghee, but we do everything with honesty. Most important is everything here is made of pure organic ghee, milk is 100 percent pure.”
That emphasis on quality has turned Inayat Sweets into a destination rather than a neighborhood stop, with customers traveling specifically for its ras malai.
“God has been so kind on me that not only in Pakistan but from whole world people want the ras malai of Inayat Sweets,” he said, adding that family support remains central to the business. “I have big support of my wife.”
For many customers, the relationship stretches back decades.
“The ras malai here is the best. We are coming here for last 25, 26 years and by the grace of God no one has made such ras malai. Neither someone has made such halwas,” said customer Shahbaz Ishaq.
Others say they have searched widely, without success, for the same flavor elsewhere.
“This taste is nowhere in Sialkot and I have gone outside Sialkot and tried it in other cities. This ras malai can be found only in this shop. I am coming here since I was 10-year-old,” said Yaseen Chohan.
For some, the distinction lies in the shop’s use of khoya, or reduced milk solids, a labor-intensive ingredient that many modern producers avoid.
“This is good! Specially khoya is used in every product,” said Altaf Hussain. “It’s very tasty and high quality.”
