BAHAWALPUR: Doctors and other employees at the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) have expressed serious concern after a nurse working at the major healthcare facility of south Punjab tested positive for monkeypox virus.

Speaking on behalf of BVH Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Abdul Rehman Chandio, DMS Dr Rizwan Ahmad confirmed that a senior staff nurse had tested positive. He said the test was conducted at a government laboratory in Lahore.

Dr Rizwan said her condition was improving and she was now in `home isolation’.

A doctor said the nurse has been working in the emergency ward of the BVH, where she might have been infected from a patient already carrying the highly communicable virus. He said the alarming fact was revealed when, after the appearance of related symptoms in the nurse, her samples were sent to the lab and its report turned out to be positive.

According to Dr Rizwan, the nurse (whose name was withheld for privacy) is being treated and looked after properly in home isolation under the supervision of senior administration of the facility.

Talking to Dawn, another doctor said the Mpox virus, with its high human-to-human transmission rate, could spread among the doctors, staff and patients at the hospital. He urged the BVH and Quaid-i-Azam Medical College administrations to take effective precautionary measures to avert any health emergency.

It is said to be the first-ever case of the detection of an Mpox at the BVH.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2026