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.