PESHAWAR: All the four mpox patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have recovered and discharged from isolation after they tested negative for the zoonotic ailment.

A statement issued by the health department on Sunday said that screening of passengers at the Bacha Khan International Airport and Pak-Afghan border at Torkham would continue as usual, but the patients who had been isolated in the Services Hospital and at their homes had tested negative and thus released from isolation.

“Other protocols will remain in place and hospitals will send the symptomatic patients for tests as part of strong surveillance,” the statement said.

Director public health Dr Irshad Roghani said that the staff of the department, the public health reference laboratory and the Khyber Medical University played significant roles in detection and management of the mpox cases.

He said surveillance had further been strengthened to ensure that none of the patient went into the community and become cause of virus spread.

“Thanks to a very strong monitoring system put in place health workers were able to identify the suspected people in a timely manner,” Mr Roghani said. “Had those patients gone to their native villages, they would have infected more people in their homes and neighbourhoods.”

Mr Roghani also appreciated the role played by the clergy in scaling up awareness against the causes of the zoonotic illness, and hoped that their cooperation would lead to disease-free environment in the province.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024