Swedish officials said on Thursday they have detected a version of mpox that only a day earlier prompted global health authorities to declare a health emergency, marking the first time that variant has been discovered outside Africa.
The World Health Organisation sounded an alarm Wednesday about the viral ailment amid a growing outbreak in Africa concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to countries that never reported mpox cases before.
The ongoing African outbreak is driven by versions of the virus known as clade 1, including the offshoot clade 1b. Those versions have been associated with more severe illness and deaths than the clade 2 version responsible for the 2022 global outbreak.
Swedish officials said the patient was infected during a stay in a part of Africa where clade 1 is circulating and was diagnosed with that variant after seeking care in the Stockholm region. That patient has received care, said Magnus Gisslen, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
Swedish officials said the risk to the public is considered low, in line with an assessment from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. But they said a new assessment is expected soon, with occasional cases related to travel anticipated.
