Islamabad: The National Institute of Health (NIH) confirmed on Tuesday that a suspected case of mpox has tested negative. This result indicates that Pakistan has reported only one confirmed case since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern.
The suspected case was identified on Monday by Border Health Services (BHS) at Islamabad Airport. The 47-year-old individual, who had arrived from a Gulf country, was admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) isolation ward. His sample was tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the NIH.
Dr. Naseem Akhtar, the PIMS focal person for mpox, stated that contact tracing would have been initiated if the test had been positive.
Sajid Shah, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services, noted that the individual was from Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He reassured that the Ministry of Health is actively monitoring the situation and implementing measures to safeguard public health.
