Two more cases of Mpox disease were detected in Pakistan today, bringing the total to three. The report comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak a global health emergency. Pakistan reported the first suspected case of Mpox in a 34-year-old man who recently returned from Saudi Arabia.

Two more patients from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region have been confirmed to have Mpox. Since April 2023, Pakistan has reported 11 cases of Mpox and one death.

The three new patients have been quarantined, and it is not immediately clear whether they are linked to the new and more deadly strain of Mpox. Yesterday, global health officials confirmed an infection with clade 1b in Sweden, the first case outside Africa. The WHO warned that this may spur more cases of the deadly variant in Europe.