On April 17th, Pakistan encountered its first monkeypox #mpox case. The affected person, whose name was not disclosed, is a resident of Islamabad/ Rawalpindi who was in Saudi Arabia for work and landed at Islamabad Airport recently. The authorities decided to take samples from the affected person and send them for tests at PIMS Hospital Islamabad, where it was confirmed that the affected person was infected with the virus.
The authorities shifted the person to an isolation ward and decided to get the vaccine from World Health Organization (WHO). A control room has been established to deal with the virus at National Command and Control Center (NCOC), where the authorities have dealt with COVID-19 since it was first reported in Pakistan.
The press information department (PID) has issued a press release on the subject. The health department issued alerts to all the district hospitals in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and decided to train the medical personnel on how to deal with the affected persons.
With the same airport landing, another person from Rawalpindi was also infected with the virus, had mild symptoms and was quarantined in his house. Furthermore, another infected person has also been reported today from Karachi Airport, and the administration has decided to establish isolation wards in all the hospitals operating under the provincial administration.
As there have been previously no human cases in Pakistan for the virus, it would be challenging to identify, contain and restrict the outbreak's spread for the authorities. Further, as there is no vaccine available in Pakistan for now, till it gets the vaccine, it would need to implement a strict surveillance program and issue SOPs that would be complied with all over the country. Pakistan was one of those countries that fought covid-19 more effectively and efficiently than most other countries; people hope to get over this outbreak soon.
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