A suspected case of monkeypox (m-pox) has been reported at PIMS Hospital in Islamabad, where a 47-year-old patient from Azad Kashmir was admitted with rashes on his body, according to Dr. Naseem Akhtar, the hospital's focal person.
The patient had recently returned to Pakistan from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. His samples have been sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH) for confirmation. Until then, he remains in the hospital's isolation ward as a precautionary measure. M-pox will only be confirmed following the laboratory report from NIH, he added.
Meanwhile, in response to the potential threat posed by m-pox, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has declared a state of emergency in hospitals across the province, according to the provincial health department. The MS of a hospital said isolation wards have been established in all government hospitals, with six beds per ward and 24-hour alert staff.
Dr. Niaz said complete facilities will be provided to the patients in these wards.
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The provincial health department has deployed health teams at airports to screen passengers for symptoms of m-pox, and planes arriving from abroad will undergo disinfection procedures if a suspected case is identified.
Health Secretary Irfan Khan announced that disinfection sprays would be carried out on a phased basis, and an awareness seminar on the virus would be held at the airport. Isolation wards will soon be activated at the district level, ensuring the province's readiness to manage any outbreak.
In Punjab, the provincial government has issued directives to all teaching hospitals to prepare for potential m-pox cases. A letter was sent to the medical superintendents of hospitals and vice chancellors of medical universities, urging them to establish high dependency units for m-pox patients and form special teams to manage cases.
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These teams will be responsible for receiving patients, conducting investigations, and ensuring strict security measures in isolation wards. Staff members attending to patients will be required to wear protective gear at all times.
The security teams will be responsible for preventing patients from coming out, and non-essential people from entering. The entry of suspected patients to the hospital will be separate, as per instructions of the health department, while without protective kits, the hospital staff will not be allowed to visit patients.
The spread of M-pox worldwide has prompted heightened vigilance in Pakistan's health sector, as authorities at federal and provincial levels take steps to prevent and manage the virus.
