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 Health Ministry said, saying the person had 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.