Pakistan has identified three patients with the mpox virus, the health department in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced on Friday.

The infection was found in the patients upon their arrival from the United Arab Emirates, the agency said. The World Health Organization has declared the recent outbreak of the disease a public health emergency of international concern, following the identification of a new variant of the virus.

Pakistan has had outbreaks of mpox, formerly called monkey pox, in the past. It has not been made clear which variant was found in the patients.

Two of the patients were confirmed to have mpox, said Salim Khan, the director general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health services.

Samples from a third patient were sent to the National Institute of Health in the capital Islamabad for confirmation, he said, adding that all three patients were in quarantine.

A spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Health said that a suspected case of mpox has been detected in the country.

Yesterday, Thursday, health officials confirmed in Sweden an infection with a new strain of the virus that causes mpox and linked it to the intensifying outbreak of the disease in Africa. It was the first indication that the disease is spreading beyond Africa, a day after the World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency of international concern.

Since the outbreak of the ongoing disease began in January 2023, Congo has recorded 27,000 cases and more than 1,100 deathsespecially among children.