Mpox in Pakistan: Karachi infant dies, 4 new KP cases with no travel history

A baby boy who caught mpox after being circumcised at an unlicensed hospital in Karachi’s Malir has died, taking Sindh’s mpox deaths this year to 12. On Sunday Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported four more cases, none with a history of foreign travel, which doctors say points to the virus now spreading inside the country.

What happened in Karachi?

The infant died on Saturday, 24 October, at the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital and Research Centre in NIPA, where he had been under treatment for more than a week. Arab News put his age at 53 days and Dawn at 52. Dr Abdul Wahid Rajput, the hospital’s medical superintendent, told Arab News that mpox was the cause of death.

The boy had been circumcised at around 20 days old at Ibn-e-Hassan Hospital in Malir 15. Symptoms showed up about four days later. The Sindh Healthcare Commission sealed that hospital after a lab confirmed the infection, saying contaminated scissors were used and that the facility was running illegally with unqualified staff and poor infection control.

A senior doctor told Dawn that a second infant, also circumcised at the same place according to his parents, is in critical condition.

How many mpox cases are there in Sindh?

Official figures reported by The Express Tribune and Arab News put Sindh at 98 cases and 12 deaths in 2026. Karachi has the most cases (26), followed by Khairpur (22) and Sukkur (9). Earlier this year at least seven infants died in Khairpur and two in Sukkur, Dawn reported.

The worrying number is this one: of 19 cases reported in Sindh in September and October, 17 had not travelled in the 21 days before falling ill, according to Arab News. Epidemiologist Dr Rana Jawad Asghar told the outlet that local transmission “has either begun or is already taking place”.

The new cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Samples sent by Khyber Teaching Hospital tested positive on Saturday at the Public Health Reference Laboratory at Khyber Medical University, Dawn reported. Two patients are from Nowshera, one from Peshawar and one from Mardan, including a married couple. All four were sent home to isolate, and the health department is tracing and testing close relatives.

KP has now recorded 18 cases this year, with one death and 13 recoveries. Earlier cases there were mostly linked to travel abroad; these four were not.

Mpox symptoms and how it spreads

According to the World Health Organization:

• Signs: a rash or sores that turn into blisters and then crusts, often with fever, headache, body and back pain, low energy and swollen glands.
• When: usually within a week of contact, but anywhere from 1 to 21 days.
• Spread: close skin-to-skin or face-to-face contact, shared household items such as bedding and towels, and contaminated needles or instruments. A mother can pass it to her baby.
• Who is most at risk: babies and children, pregnant women and people with weak immunity.

Most people recover in two to four weeks. A person stays infectious until all sores have healed, Dr Samreen Sarfaraz of Indus Hospital told Dawn, and Prof Faisal Mahmood of Aga Khan University Hospital said mpox spreads far less easily than chickenpox or measles.

What families can do

The Karachi case shows how much damage one unsterile instrument can do. For circumcision, injections or any small procedure, use a registered hospital or clinic and don’t hesitate to ask whether instruments are sterilised and syringes are new.

If someone at home develops a rash with fever, keep them in a separate, airy room, cover the sores, wash hands often, don’t share towels or bedding, and see a doctor. This is general guidance, not medical advice; for a sick baby, go to a hospital straight away.

KP’s contact tracing in Nowshera, Peshawar and Mardan should show over the next two weeks whether more cases are hiding in those districts.