Five-month-old girl tests positive for mpox in Peshawar

An infant tested positive for mpox after landing at Peshawar Airport from Qatar with her parents.

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Health authorities in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar have confirmed a second case of the Mpox virus this year.

The infection was detected in a five-month-old girl arriving at Peshawar Airport from Qatar, marking the latest development in Pakistan’s ongoing monitoring of the disease.

Attaullah Khan, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s health adviser Ihtesham Ali, confirmed that the infant tested positive for Mpox after landing with her parents.

The health department has initiated testing for the virus on the child’s parents as a precautionary measure.

This new case follows the detection of Mpox in a 35-year-old man at Peshawar Airport last week. The man was promptly isolated at Police Services Hospital for treatment.

Since the first reported case in August 2024, Pakistan has implemented screening protocols at airports and border entry points.

The country reported at least eight cases of Mpox in 2024. However, no cases of the newly mutated strain of Mpox, clade I, have been detected in Pakistan so far.

Mpox symptoms include flu-like illness and pus-filled lesions. Children, pregnant women, and individuals with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to complications from the virus.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in August 2024 due to the spread of the new strain of the virus, which emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has prompted increased global monitoring and preventive efforts.