Health Department urges vigilance in hospitals amid signs of local transmission from Punjab
In this illustration taken on May 23, 2022, test tubes labeled “Monkeypox virus positive” are seen. PHOTO: REUTERS
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Health Department on Thursday put all public and private hospitals on high alert for mox following a notable rise in confirmed cases across the province.
Authorities reported that more than two dozen, a total of 26, mpox infections have been detected in the last 12 months. Of them, 18 patients were men and six were women. An advisory emphasized the need to quickly isolate suspected cases and conduct rigorous testing to curb further spread.
The directive was issued in response to an increase in referrals of suspected patients and an increase in laboratory-confirmed positives across the province’s surveillance and diagnostic systems. Health authorities noted that cases showed a marked increase in 2025 compared to the previous year, and that additional detections continued until early 2026.
Read more: KP reports first case of locally transmitted mpox
Initially, mpox infections in the province were linked to travel from Gulf countries, where people tested positive upon arrival and were deported or treated accordingly. However, recent trends point to emerging local transmission within Pakistan.
Several cases are suspected to have originated from Punjab, which was initially largely unaffected but reported more than 25 cases late last year, a fact that may have contributed to the surge in KP.
The first locally acquired case, with no history of international travel, was diagnosed in February 2025. In 2023, the province recorded only two cases, both imported from the Middle East.
Health officials expressed concern about the changing epidemiological pattern, including the absence of travel history in many recent patients and difficulties in tracing close contacts in several cases. This raises fears of possible community transmission and the risk of zoonotic infection becoming more entrenched if containment efforts fail.
Doctors have been instructed to suspect mpox in patients who present with characteristic symptoms, such as rashes or specific skin lesions, fever, body aches, and swollen lymph nodes, especially those with known close contact with confirmed or suspected cases.
Also read: Two more cases of monkeypox reported in KP
Hospitals should immediately isolate suspected persons at first contact and maintain strict infection prevention and control (IPC) measures until test results are available.
Globally, mpox continues to be reported in several regions, prompting continued recommendations from the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to improve surveillance, early diagnosis, robust PCI protocols in healthcare settings, and rapid laboratory confirmation to limit transmission.
Provincial health authorities stressed that acting in time remains essential to prevent broader outbreaks in the region.
