Sweden on Thursday reported the first case outside Africa of the more dangerous variant of mpox, also known as monkeypox, declared by the WHO on Wednesday as a “public health emergency of international concern.” The case was reported by the Swedish Minister of Social Affairs, Jakob Forssmed, who said he takes the crisis “very seriously.”
“A person seeking treatment” in Stockholm “was diagnosed with mpox caused by clade I,” a more contagious and dangerous variant, the Swedish Public Health Agency said in a statement, confirming to AFP that it is the same strain of the virus that emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in September 2023.
The person became 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 patient received treatment and must now follow a series of medical instructions, he added. The agency said that “Sweden is prepared to diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely.”
More dangerous variant
“The fact that a patient with mpox receives treatment in the country does not affect the risk for the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers very low,” he stressed.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the main hotbed of MPOX infection in Africa, 548 deaths have already been recorded this year from the disease. “According to the latest epidemiological report, our country has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths since the beginning of the year,” said Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba. “Currently, almost all provinces are affected,” he added.
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have all reported cases for the first time, while in the endemic Democratic Republic of Congo, infections have been observed in provinces that had not been previously affected. The current epidemic has its own characteristics, as the more contagious virus is caused by a more dangerous variant.
MPOX was discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire. It is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans, but is also transmitted through close physical contact with a person infected with the virus. The disease causes fever, muscle aches and skin lesions. The death rate from the new variant is estimated at 3.6 percent.
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