Authorities in Pakistan began screening all vacationers to the nation for the mpox virus as a precautionary step after a optimistic case was detected this month.
Scanners have been put in place in any respect airports and at border crossings with Afghanistan, China, India, Iran to report suspected infections as a part of efforts to forestall the virus from spreading within the nation, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed, the prime minister’s coordinator on nationwide well being, mentioned Saturday at a information convention in Islamabad.
“There is no point to panic,” Ahmed mentioned, including that Pakistan has sufficient vaccine kits. “We don’t foresee any emergency related to the infection.”
Pakistan has discovered 11 instances in additional than a yr, with the most recent an infection confirmed on Aug. 13 in a 34-year-old male who arrived from Saudi Arabia. One of many contaminated individuals later died as a consequence of different diseases, the official mentioned.
The World Well being Group this week declared a worldwide well being emergency over the unfold of a mutated pressure of mpox. Pakistan is conducting genetic sequencing to find out the variant of the most recent case.
