Stockholm – Sweden has become the first country outside Africa to report a case of the more dangerous Clade 1b subclade of the mpox virus, the country’s public health agency confirmed on Thursday.
The agency revealed that a person who sought medical care in Stockholm has been diagnosed with the mpox variant, which has been wreaking havoc in the Democratic Republic of Congo since September 2023. The individual contracted the virus during a trip to the African nation, where the mpox outbreak is currently concentrated.
Despite the confirmed case, health officials have reassured the public that the risk to the general population remains very low. The country is said to be well-prepared to diagnose, isolate, and treat mpox patients effectively.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak in the DRC and neighboring countries a global public health emergency just a day before Sweden’s announcement. The virus, which has caused the deaths of 548 people in the DRC alone this year, is transmitted to humans through infected animals but can also spread from person to person. Symptoms include fever, muscle aches, and characteristic skin lesions.
Formerly known as monkeypox, the virus was first identified in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
