At least one case of the contagious mpox virus has been detected in Pakistan as of Friday, health authorities said, without clarifying the variant of the virus.

"The first case of mpox has been confirmed in Pakistan," a spokesman for the Pakistan Health Ministry said, saying the person in question had traveled from "from a Gulf country."

Pakistan has had cases of mpox during past outbreaks, but it was initially unclear whether the infected patient, reported to be a 34-year-old man, was carrying the new "Clade 1" strain, which is more contagious.

Samples have been sent to the National Health Institute in the capital Islamabad for genetic sequencing and confirmation, health officials said.

Local health officials report up to three mpox cases

The local health department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province spoke of up to three cases detected in patients, all of whom are in quarantine.

The news comes a day after Sweden said it detected the first case of a more dangerous strain of mpox outside the African continent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighboring countries in Africa.

There have been 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deaths, mainly among children, in Africa since the current outbreak began in January 2023. The outbreak has affected Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

mf/rm (Reuters, AFP)