Sweden reports first case of new mpox variant outside Africa

Sweden on Thursday recorded the first case outside Africa of the new, more contagious variant of mpox linked to the Congo epidemic, which the World Health Organization (WHO) a day earlier declared a global public health emergency.

A person was diagnosed with the disease in Stockholm after returning from a stay in a part of Africa that is experiencing an outbreak of the disease, Sweden’s public health agency said.

The infected person “has received care and rules of conduct,” according to state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén, and the Swedish public health agency said the country is prepared to “diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely.”

“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 (ECDC) currently considers very low,” the press release read.

“A new assessment is expected shortly. However, occasional imported cases like the current one may continue to occur,” the release continued.

WHO on Wednesday declared the mpox outbreak in Africa a global health emergency, warning the dangerous disease might continue to spread beyond the continent.

More than 96 percent of cases and deaths so far are in Congo, but the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that mpox was detected in at least 13 African countries, The Associated Press reported.

The WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths from mpox this year, already exceeding the total from last year.

The new strain of mpox, clade 1, is thought to cause more severe illness than the cases linked to the 2022 outbreak. Mpox is not airborne and typically requires skin-to-skin contact to spread.