Monkeypox alert issued in Pakistan after cases detected in Europe, US

ISLAMABAD: Following the emergence of 92 cases of monkeypox in Europe, England, the United States, Africa and Australia, the National Institute of Health (NIH) issued a high alert regarding the spread of the disease in Pakistan, ARY News reported.

In a statement, the health department issued a high alert to provinces and other intuitions to take timely measures to prevent the spread of infectious disease in the country.

In a letter addressed to all health services, all health officers and directors and medical superintendents of all major hospitals.

Earlier in the day, the Director-General (DG) Health of Sindh directed provincial authorities to take steps to prevent the spread of infections in Sindh.

The Director Health services, DHOs, Directors of medical institutes and Medical Superintendents have been advised to report suspected cases of Monkeypox to the provincial disease and surveillance response unit at DG office, Hyderabad and regional office Karachi so that immediate required intervention steps could be taken to prevent it’s spread.

EXPLAINER: MONKEYPOX – HOW CONCERNED SHOULD WE BE?

As of Saturday, 92 confirmed cases and 28 suspected cases of monkeypox have been reported from 12 member states that are not endemic for the virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?

The risk to the general public is low at this time, a U.S. public health official told reporters at a briefing on Friday.

Monkeypox is a virus that can cause symptoms including fever, aches and presents with a distinctive bumpy rash.

It is related to smallpox, but is usually milder, particularly the West African strain of the virus that was identified in a U.S. case, which has a fatality rate of around 1%. Most people fully recover in two to four weeks, the official said.