PESHAWAR: Health department has stepped up screening at Bacha Khan International Airport after detection of first mpox case of the current year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The first mpox case of the current year was detected in Pakistan when a Dubai-based driver was suspected during screening by staffers of Border Health Services on Friday last and subsequently tested positive for the zoonotic ailment at Public Health Reference Laboratory (PHRL). Another suspected patient was also tested on Sunday but he was negative and sent home.

The deputy director of public health, Dr Mussawir Manzoor, told Dawn that the patient was isolated at Services Hospital under strict observation and would only be discharged once his sample emerged negative. “As per the protocol of WHO’s International Health Regulations, we have also identified six co-passengers of the patients and our staff at district level examined them and found them asymptomatic,” he said.

He said that those passengers, including two from Peshawar and one each from Bannu, Charsadda, Hangu and Swat, were being constantly monitored for two weeks and anyone showing symptoms would be tested. The patient had lesions only on face, therefore, chances of his coming to contact with other passengers were less and they were low-risk, he added.

Official says better surveillance helps contain the infection

“However, we cannot ignore and will adhere to the standard protocol,” said Dr Mussawir. He said that every day on average 1,200 people arriving at the airport were being screened to ensure that none of the suspected persons went untested and endanger the lives of people.

He said that the sample of the positive patient had been sent to National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, for genetic sequencing, the result of which was awaited.

Dr Mussawir said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had so far recorded 10 mpox cases, including two in 2023, seven in 2024 and one in the current year. “Most of them have been working in Middle East. Our staff at the airport is according more attention to the passengers from Middle East,” he added.

Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University in Peshawar has been a big boost for health department where tests are conducted promptly than National Institute of Health, Islamabad, where it takes longer to make the results available because it is receiving samples from the whole country.

“Better surveillance and rapid diagnosis have helped us to prevent the infection from spreading to the community as all 10 cases reported so far were detected during screening. They were tested positive at PHRL,” he said. The suspected patients were sent to Services Hospital where they were isolated and tested, he said.

Dr Mussawir said that each and every patient was handled as per his/her history. Health department has also alerted its staff in all districts to send samples from suspected patients to PHRL for free testing.

“An advisory prepared by NIH has also been shared with district health officers and medical superintendents regarding the case identification and management.

It is because of the strong system of screening at the airport that the infection has been contained,“ he said.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025