Sindh mpox cases climb to 25 after two more infections confirmed

KARACHI: Two additional mpox cases were confirmed in Sindh on Tuesday, one in Karachi and the other in Khairpur, taking the province’s total number of confirmed infections this year to 25, according to a statement issued by the health department.

The department said 122 suspected mpox cases have been reported across Sindh so far this year. Of these, 25 were confirmed positive, while nine patients have died.

Officials said Khairpur remains the main centre of the outbreak in the province, with 18 confirmed cases. Karachi has reported four cases, while Sukkur has recorded three.

All confirmed cases are being linked to local transmission. However, the health department’s statement did not explain how the infection, which had previously been limited to people arriving from abroad, is now spreading locally. It also did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding the nine deaths.

Questions remain over hospital-linked outbreak

The statement also did not include detailed information about the two newly confirmed cases or the progress of an inquiry launched by the department into two hospitals in Khairpur, one public and one private, after several newborns contracted the infection there and later died.

The neonatal units of both hospitals were sealed earlier this month after the outbreak came to light.

A few days earlier, the health minister had said that five of the nine children affected at the hospitals had died. She had added that mpox was not the direct cause of their deaths, as the children were too weak and malnourished

Karachi patient under treatment

According to officials, the patient who tested positive in Karachi on Tuesday is being treated at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital and Research Centre (SIDH&RC), where his condition is said to be stable.

The 43-year-old man, identified as the third mpox patient admitted to the hospital, is a resident of Malir and had not travelled abroad in recent weeks.

The previous patient at the facility, a student from Buffer Zone in Karachi, left the hospital against medical advice a day earlier.

"He should stay at the hospital till complete recovery, which usually takes three to four weeks. Otherwise, he can infect others," Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, Medical Superintendent of SIDH&RC said.

Dr Rajput said the disease has no specific treatment, has a low fatality risk, and is managed mainly through supportive care. He stressed that isolating patients remains essential to stop further spread. "The patient has told us that his chowkidar (watchman) had developed some skin disease after visiting Shikarpur. He has now recovered," he also said.

Measures taken by health department

Officials said the health department has responded by establishing isolation wards, putting in place a mechanism for transporting samples, strengthening surveillance and diagnosis, and conducting contact tracing of affected patients.

The department urged healthcare providers and the public to strictly follow infection control measures and seek care at nearby hospitals if symptoms of the disease appear.