Mpox patient is missing as Pakistan ups airport vetting

The country's health ministry has yet to confirm whether the man is infected with a new deadlier variant known as clade 1b

- VISHWAM SANKARAN

Pakistan says it is introducing new screening at airports after confirming at least one case of mpox infection, days after the World Health Organisation declared a global emergency over the virus.

Health officials are concerned about a new deadlier strain of the virus, formerly known as monkeypox, that has spread through several African countries. The case reported in Pakistan involves a patient who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia. Pakistan's health ministry said it had yet to determine the strain of the virus.

Mpox belongs to the smallpox family of viruses but causes milder symptoms including fever, chills and body aches, with more serious cases likely to develop characteristic lesions on the face, hands, chest and genitals.

Earlier this week, the WHO warned of the "very worrying" emergence and spread of a new variant of mpox associated with a "more severe disease and higher mortality rates" than the strain behind the global mpox outbreak in 2022.