STOCKHOLM: Sweden Thursday announced the first case outside Africa of the more dangerous variant of mpox, which the WHO has declared a global public health emergency. The nation’s public health agency said it was the same strain that has surged in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since Sept 2023, known as Clade 1b subclade.
“A person who sought care” in Stockholm “has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant,” the agency said in a statement.The person was infected during a visit to “the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade I”, epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen said in the statement.
“The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control currently considers very low,” it said.
The outbreak in the DRC has killed 548 people since the start of the year. The disease causes fever, muscular aches and boil-like skin lesions.
“A person who sought care” in Stockholm “has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant,” the agency said in a statement.The person was infected during a visit to “the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade I”, epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen said in the statement.
“The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control currently considers very low,” it said.
The outbreak in the DRC has killed 548 people since the start of the year. The disease causes fever, muscular aches and boil-like skin lesions.