The first locally transmitted suspected case of monkeypox (mpox) was reported in a child in Karachi, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Friday.
Reportedly, seven-year-old Muzammil, r/o Liyari, has been admitted to the isolation ward of the NICH. He is suspected of having been infected by the monkeypox disease.
According to the hospital administration, a 7-bed monkeypox isolation ward has been set up at the NICH.
The hospital sources revealed that symptoms in the child were same like mpox.
However, the father said that neither the child had any travel history, nor were they visited by any relatives coming from abroad.
Health officials quarantined on Thursday four passengers, including a teenager, suspected of having mpox following their arrival at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
One of the passengers who were diagnosed with monkeypox was a Somali citizen. He was identified as Bashir Malam, and he had arrived in Karachi on Fly Dubai flight FZ329. He was confirmed to carry the monkeypox virus after screening.
Ayub Khan and Muhammad Javed, two other passengers who came from Sharjah to Karachi, were also diagnosed with monkeypox.
The three passengers were shifted to Bhataiabad Centre by the Health Department after the preliminary proceedings.
Earlier, the infected passengers were admitted to the isolation ward at the airport. The samples taken during the medical examination of the infected passengers would be sent to the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad.
A meeting of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) was briefed on Thursday that there had been no vaccine available for the treatment of mpox in Pakistan.
The World Health Organisation will be approached for the mpox vaccine, it was decided in the meeting.
A person can get mpox from close contact with a person infected with mpox through: touching blisters or scabs and having any skin contact (including sexual contact); touching clothes, bedding, towels or personal items used by a person who has a mpox rash, blisters or scabs; and coughs or sneezes from a person with mpox.
Reporter Rabeel Ashraf