Pakistan, Karachi case of Mpox reported

In 2025, Pakistan reported its second case of Mpox, with a 29-year-old male patient testing positive for the infection in Karachi. The patient, a resident of Shah Latif town in the Malir district, is currently undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where he was declared in stable condition. Health sources have indicated that the patient’s wife, who recently travelled to Saudi Arabia, exhibited similar injuries that subsequently healed. Following the confirmation of the case, officials have initiated contact tracing measures, while screening efforts have been augmented at airports and border entry points. The first case of Mpox this year was reported in January, when a passenger arriving from a Gulf country in Peshawar tested positive for the infection. In the previous year, eight cases of the condition were reported, while the Pakistani government has confirmed nine cases in 2023, all among travellers returning from the Middle East and other countries. There have been no reports of local transmission of the virus to date. At present, only cases of Clade II infection have been reported in Pakistan, which is known to cause milder symptoms than Clade I.