“The virus is classified as Clade 2b,” Pak Health Ministry said. (Representative)
Islamabad, Pakistan:
A case of MPOX in Pakistan announced last week was not the new strain spreading through Africa, health officials said Monday.
The MPox diagnosis in a 34-year-old man who had recently returned from a Gulf country was declared by health officials on Friday as tests for the exact strain were being conducted.
“The virus is classified as Clade 2b,” the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Monday.
“Currently, the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is mainly associated with Clade 1b. Notably, no cases of Clade 1b have been reported in Pakistan so far.”
Mpox infections increased dramatically worldwide in May 2022, mainly affecting gay and bisexual men due to the Clade 2b subclade, but cases have largely declined.
The World Health Organization last week declared the rapid spread of the new Clade 1b strain in Africa a public health emergency of international concern – the highest alarm it can sound.
The Swedish Public Health Agency said on Thursday it had registered a case of the Clade 1b subclade, the first to be diagnosed outside Africa.
About 16,000 cases have been recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the epidemic that has so far killed 548 people in the country.
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