Dr. Abdul Razak Shaikh
As of April 2026, Pakistan is facing a concerning fresh wave of mpox cases, with a shifting pattern that includes the first reported infections in children and potential community transmission, primarily centered in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Health authorities have raised an alarm over an outbreak in Khairpur and Sukkur, with multiple cases reported among children, including an infant under one year old. At least 7 babies have died in the Khairpur/Sukkur area from a chickenpox-like disease that experts are investigating as mpox.
While numbers are fluctuating due to ongoing investigations, reports indicate a significant spike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (26+ cases) and new cases in Karachi.
Mpox is a disease caused by infection with a virus, known as Monkeypox virus. This virus is part of the same family as the virus that causes smallpox. People with mpox often get a rash, along with other symptoms.
This virus usually affects rodents, such as rats or mice, or nonhuman primates, such as monkeys. But it can occur in people.
Mpox usually occurs in Central and West Africa. Cases outside of Africa are often due to International travel, imported animals, and close contact with an animal or person with mpox.
Starting in 2022, mpox cases were reported in countries that don’t often have mpox, such as the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to monitor cases that have been reported throughout the world, including Europe and the United States.
Mpox symptoms may start 3 to 17 days after you are exposed. The time between when you are exposed and when you have symptoms is called the incubation period.
The mpox rash often first appears on the face, hands, or feet and then spreads to other body parts. But in cases linked to the outbreak in 2022, the rash often started in the genital area, mouth, or throat. The mpox rash goes through many stages. Flat spots turn into blisters. Then the blisters fill with pus, scab over, and fall off over 2 to 4 weeks.
The mpox virus spreads from person to person through Direct contact with rashes, scabs, or body fluids of a person with mpox. Extended close contact (more than four hours) with respiratory droplets from an infected person. This includes sexual contact. Clothes, sheets, blankets, or other materials that have been in contact with rashes or body fluids of an infected person. An infected pregnant person can spread the mpox virus to a fetus.
Mpox spreads from an animal to a person through animal bites or scratches. Direct contact with body fluids or rashes of animals with mpox.
Take these steps to prevent infection with or the spread of the mpox virus: Avoid close contact with people who have a rash that looks like mpox.
Avoid handling clothes, sheets, blankets, or other materials that have been in contact with an infected animal or person. Isolate people who have mpox from healthy people.
Wash your hands well with soap and water after any contact with an infected person or animal. If soap and water aren’t available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Some smallpox vaccines can prevent mpox, including the ACAM2000 and Jynneos vaccines. These vaccines can be used to prevent mpox because smallpox and mpox are caused by related viruses.
Healthcare professionals may suggest that people who have been exposed to mpox get vaccinated. Some people who are at risk of exposure to the virus in their work, such as lab workers, may get vaccinated too.
The CDC doesn’t recommend that everyone get vaccinated against mpox at this time.
Treatment for most people with mpox is aimed at relieving symptoms. Care may include managing skin damage from the mpox rash, drinking enough liquids to help keep stool soft, and pain management.
If you have mpox, isolate at home in a separate room from family and pets until your rash and scabs heal.
There is no specific treatment approved for mpox. Healthcare professionals may treat mpox with some antiviral drugs used to treat smallpox, such as tecovirimat (TPOXX) or brincidofovir (Tembexa).
Mpox complications can include Severe scars on the face, arms, and legs, Blindness, Other infections, and Death, in rare cases.
Remember that mpox is rare in the U.S. and the mpox virus doesn’t spread easily between people without close contact. But if you have a new rash or any symptoms of mpox, contact your healthcare professional.
At least one case of the contagious mpox virus has been detected in Pakistan, health authorities said, without clarifying the variant of the virus.
Samples have been sent to the National Health Institute in the capital, Islamabad, for genetic sequencing and confirmation.
The local health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province spoke of up to three cases detected in patients, all of whom are in quarantine.
Two vaccines for mpox are recommended by the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization and are also approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities, as well as by individual countries, including Nigeria and the DRC.
In the province of Sindh, the Health Department has taken preventive measures so that the disease can not spread further.