Pakistan begins screening all travellers for mpox virus
No need to panic on virus spread, says health official
Authorities in Pakistan started screening all travellers to the country for the mpox virus as a precautionary step after a positive case was detected this month.
Scanners have been put in place at all airports and at border crossings with Afghanistan, China, India, Iran to report suspected infections as part of efforts to prevent the virus from spreading in the country, Malik Mukhtar Ahmed, the prime minister's coordinator on national health, said on Saturday at a news conference in Islamabad.
"There is no point to panic," Ahmed said, adding that Pakistan has enough vaccine kits. "We don't foresee any emergency related to the infection."
Pakistan has found 11 cases in more than a year, with the latest infection confirmed on Aug. 13 in a 34-year-old male who arrived from Saudi Arabia. One of the infected persons later died due to other illnesses, the official said.
The World Health Organization this week declared a global health emergency over the spread of a mutated strain of mpox. Pakistan is conducting genetic sequencing to determine the variant of the latest case.