After the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Mpox an international “public health emergency”, Pakistan and Sweden have reported early cases of MPOX’s new deadly variant.
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On Friday, Pakistan has confirmed its first monkeypox case of the year after a 34-year-old man who recently returned from Saudi Arabia tested positive for the virus.
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Health officials have started to identify people who were in close contact with the man, including fellow passengers on his flight from Saudi Arabia.
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In Pakistan, 11 cases have been reported since April 2023, with one resulting in death.
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Sweden announced that a person in Stockholm “has been diagnosed with mpox”, marking the first case of the deadly strain to be diagnosed outside the African continent.
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WHO has warned more cases of the deadly variant will likely be confirmed in Europe soon, after Sweden.
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The deadly virus, which has killed 548 people since the start of the year in Congo, is a viral disease caused by a virus of the genus Orthopoxvirus.
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The new variant has caused outbreaks in refugee camps in Congo and has spread to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda and Kenya.
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South Africa is also experiencing outbreaks but they are linked to a different strain of the virus.
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The virus can be transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
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The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions which can last from 2 to 4 weeks.
