Sweden announced on Thursday it has identified an individual infected the more infectious form of mpox first seen in eastern Congo.
"A person who sought care at Region Stockholm has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant. It is the first case caused by clade I to be diagnosed outside the African continent," Sweden's public health agency said in a statement.
"In this case a person has been infected during a stay in the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade I. The person in Sweden who has been confirmed to be infected has received care and rules of conduct," the statement added.
The announcement comes just one day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a global emergency following outbreaks in Africa.
"This is something that should concern us all...The potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously announced that the recent spread of mpox had become a public health emergency. There have been over 500 deaths caused by the virus in Africa.
According to the Associated Press (AP), health officials in Sweden said "the fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population," noting that experts have predicted the risk to be "very low."
"Mpox is classified as dangerous to public health which means that there is a preparedness for infection control measures such as tracing, testing and rules of conduct. Sweden also has access to vaccines and antivirals," Sweden's public health agency said.
Sweden's public health agency added that other cases of mpox involving the clade IIb virus variant were previously identified in the country.
"Approximately 300 cases of mpox have previously been identified in Sweden, all linked to the global outbreak of the clade IIb virus variant," the agency said.
The Africa CDC reported that mpox has been detected in 13 countries this year, with over 96 percent of cases and deaths occurring in Congo. Compared to the same period last year, cases have surged by 160 percent while deaths have risen by 19 percent. So far, more than 14,000 cases have been reported with 524 deaths.
According to the WHO, "the monkeypox virus virus is an orthopoxvirus that causes mpox (monkeypox), a disease with symptoms similar to smallpox, although less severe."
Last week, Ghebreyesus further spoke about mpox, saying: "There are two vaccines for mpox that have been approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities, and which are recommended by WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE."
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