Pakistan on high alert against monkeypox after reports of outbreaks in over 20 countries

Passengers wearing facemasks look out from a window of a train as they are going to their hometown, Rawalpindi Pakistan May 11, 2021. (AFP/FILE)

• Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild and is endemic in west and central Africa 
• Officials of national health ministry say no monkeypox case has yet been reported in Pakistan 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government on Monday directed all national and provincial health authorities to remain on high alert for suspected cases of monkeypox virus, state media reported, after nearly two dozen countries reported its cases.
Monkeypox constitutes a “moderate risk” to the overall public health at global level after its cases were reported in countries where the disease is not typically found, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday.
Monkeypox is an infectious disease that is usually mild and is endemic in parts of west and central Africa. It is spread by close contact and can therefore be contained relatively easily through measures like self-isolation and better hygiene.
Most of the cases reported so far have been detected in the United Kingdom, Spain and Portugal.
“The situation is being closely monitored by the health authorities,” the state-run Radio Pakistan website reported, citing an official of Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services.
“As per reports of the National Institute of Health, no case of monkeypox has yet been diagnosed in Pakistan,” he added.
The official said information circulating on social media about monkeypox cases in Pakistan was incorrect.
Monkeypox causes symptoms like fever, aches and distinctive bumpy rashes. It is related to smallpox, but is usually milder, particularly the West African strain that was recently identified in the US and has a fatality rate of around one percent.
The virus is not as easily transmitted as SARS-CoV-2 which spurred the global COVID-19 pandemic.
According to WHO, a total of 257 confirmed and 120 suspected cases had been reported from 23 member countries until May 26. There have been no reported fatalities so far.
The global health agency said the sudden appearance of monkeypox at once in several non-endemic countries suggested undetected transmission for some time and recent amplifying events.
WHO said it expected more cases to be reported as surveillance in endemic and non-endemic countries was being expanded.