Mpox emergency: Pakistan begins screening all travelers

Scanners have been installed at all airports and border crossings with Afghanistan, China, India, Iran to report suspected infections as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in the country, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed, the prime minister’s coordinator for national health. , said at a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday.

“There is no point in panicking,” Ahmed said, adding that Pakistan has enough vaccine kits. “We do not foresee any emergency related to the infection.”

Pakistan has found 11 cases in more than a year, with the most recent infection confirmed on August 13 in a 34-year-old man who arrived from Saudi Arabia. One of the infected people later died of other illnesses, the official said.

The World Health Organization this week declared a global health emergency due to the spread of a mutated strain of mpox. Pakistan is conducting genetic sequencing to determine the variant of the latest case.