The Islamabad administration has intensified screening at the city’s airport for suspected mpox cases, with the health ministry saying on Tuesday a suspected case from the Kashmir region had turned out to be negative.
“A sample of a suspected case of mpox at PIMS Hospital was sent to tae National Institute of Health,” the health ministry said on Tuesday, adding that it had come back negative.
“The 47-year-old suspect is a resident of Azad Kashmir … Effective measures are being taken to protect the public from mpox.”
Meanwhile, the mpox outbreak is not another Covid-19, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday, because much is already known about the virus and the means to control it. While more research is needed on the Clade 1b strain which triggered the UN agency into declaring a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), the spread of mpox can be reined in, the WHO’s European director Hans Kluge said.
