KARACHI: An infection control alert has been issued in hospitals across the metropolis following the emergence of monkeypox virus in the country. The directives for both private and government-run hospitals follow the Federal Health Ministry's confirmation that mpox was diagnosed in at least one patient who had returned from a Gulf country. It is to be noted that a new form of the virus has triggered global concern because it seems to spread more easily through routine close contact.
A case of the new variant was confirmed on Thursday in Sweden and linked to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent. Mpox is a viral disease related to the now-eradicated smallpox virus and can spread through any close contact and through contaminated materials like sheets, clothing and needles, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). A spokesperson of the ministry said the sequencing of the confirmed case was underway, and that it would not be clear which variant of mpox the patient had until the process was complete.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health authorities confirmed one mpox case after withdrawing their previous statement that three mpox patients had been detected there this week on arrival from the United Arab Emirates. Highlighting that the WHO has declared a global emergence over mpox spread, health experts have said that the disease can be transferred from animals to humans as well as from one person to another. It is to be noted t.