EDITORIAL: With Pakistan recording two cases of mpox on consecutive days on August 31 and September 1, there are clear warning signs for the health authorities to further heighten surveillance and take the requisite precautions to prevent the spread of the disease within the country.
While so far only four cases of mpox have emerged, these have all come within a period of two weeks starting from August 14, when the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared its spread to be an emergency of international concern.
So far, no local transmission of the disease has been identified as all those diagnosed had arrived in Peshawar after travelling from Gulf countries, indicating a link between international travel from the Middle East and the spread of the virus, and showing that strict screening and monitoring of travellers at entry points in the coming weeks and months must continue to be prioritised.
Since the start of the year, the spread of the mpox virus has been in the news internationally following the outbreak of a new, more lethal strain of the disease, which has severely impacted the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), resulting in 18,000 suspected cases and 615 deaths so far in the central African nation.
Overall, 122 countries have reported more than 99,000 cases and hundreds of deaths. The WHO has identified two strains of the mpox virus, clade I and clade II, with the former being the more virulent one that has ravaged through the DRC.
Thankfully, the strain identified in Pakistan has been the milder one. While the authorities’ efforts in increasing vigilance at airports and setting up isolation facilities in hospitals are welcome, there remains a pressing need for a comprehensive public awareness campaign to educate the population about preventive measures and symptoms to watch for.
Although the National Command and Operation Centre has issued an advisory, detailing that the disease spreads through close contact with affected individuals and can cause flu-like symptoms, fever, rashes, pus-filled skin lesions, headaches and body aches, there appears to be insufficient effort in widely publicising this crucial information through national media.
Additionally, it is also essential to educate the public on preventive measures and the necessary steps to take if someone is diagnosed with the disease.
In a post-Covid-19 world, the importance of swift and transparent communication about infectious diseases cannot be overstated, as that is critical for not only preventing the spread of the virus but also for protecting precious healthcare resources in a resource-starved country like ours and, most importantly, for saving lives.
While the strain of mpox identified in Pakistan so far may be a mild one, and notwithstanding the government’s claims of the surveillance system in place at airports to be of world class quality, the danger lies in the possibility of even a single person with a more virulent strain of the virus slipping undetected through the checks present at the country’s entry points. This could rapidly escalate the situation, overwhelm healthcare facilities, and pose a severe threat to public health.
Therefore, ensuring the availability of adequate resources in hospitals countrywide, effective community-level monitoring and comprehensive public education are a must. There is also a need to enhance diagnostic capabilities in laboratories and hospitals all over the country, ensure the availability of testing kits and appropriately train healthcare professionals.
Additionally, there is a case to be made for Pakistan collaborating closely with WHO and other international health bodies to share expertise, pool resources and adopt strategies that other countries have found effective in combating mpox. Most importantly, the authorities must guard against any complacency creeping into the response systems to ensure they are fully prepared to tackle a potential mpox outbreak.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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