KARACHI: Pakistan’s southeastern province of Sindh on Saturday reported its first mpox case, with health authorities saying the patient, in his late 20s, had no recent travel history and was being kept in isolation at a local hospital.
Pakistan reported eight cases last year and five this year of mpox, which causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. Children, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems face a higher risk of complications from the infection.
Mpox can spread through close contact with an infected person, such as skin-to-skin touching or cuts, sexual activity, mouth-to-mouth contact, or by breathing in infectious respiratory particles.
The Sindh health department’s announcement highlighting the lack of travel history raises suspicion of a locally transmitted case.
“Saturday 22nd March 2025, the lab confirmed the first case of Monkeypox in Sindh,” Meeran Yousuf, the provincial health department spokesperson, said in a brief statement.
“The 29-year-old male, resident of District Malir, has no recent travel history,” he continued. “His first symptom onset was on 15th March 2025. The patient is currently in isolation at a public hospital and contact tracing is currently being conducted by the health department.”
Last month, Pakistan reported two new mpox cases in the northwestern city of Peshawar, one of which was said to be the country’s first locally transmitted case.
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in 2024 over the spread of a new, more dangerous mutated strain of mpox, named clade I. The strain first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spread to several countries, prompting increased monitoring and preventive measures worldwide.
Pakistan has so far not reported any cases of the new mutation.
Health authorities confirm first mpox case in Pakistan’s Sindh
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Health authorities confirm first mpox case in Pakistan’s Sindh
- The 29-year-old patient has no recent travel history, raising suspicion of local transmission
- Provincial health official says the patient is kept in isolation, with contact tracing in progress
Pakistan arrests suspect arriving from Cambodia amid crackdown on human smuggling
- Suspect worked at an “online fraud company” in Cambodia, later started smuggling people from Pakistan, says FIA
- Pakistan has intensified crackdown against human smugglers after hundreds of migrants drowned near Pylos in 2023
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday said it had arrested a key suspect involved in smuggling humans who had arrived from Cambodia, alleging he was also part of an international fraud network.
The suspect, identified as Zainullah, was arrested by FIA officials when he arrived in the southern port city of Karachi from Cambodia.
Zainullah had traveled from Pakistan to Cambodia in September 2024, a press release issued by the agency said.
“He worked at an online fraud company in Cambodia and later became involved as an agent in recruiting individuals from Pakistan,” the FIA said.
The FIA said it recovered images of multiple individuals’ passports, payment receipts and bank transaction records after extracting data from Zainullah’s phone.
It said the suspect received money through personal bank accounts and a cryptocurrency account.
“The suspect has been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal proceedings,” the FIA said.
“Further investigation is underway.”
Pakistan intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank off the Greek town of Pylos, one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Mediterranean.
Authorities say they continue to target networks sending citizens abroad through dangerous routes, following heightened scrutiny at airports and a series of arrests involving forged documents.
Pakistan’s interior ministry said this week illegal migration to Europe has declined by 47 percent this year after its nationwide crackdown, saying that more than 1,700 human smugglers have been arrested in 2025.
