AKIPRESS.COM - Sweden's public health agency confirmed its first case of the mpox clade 1 variant, marking the first known instance outside Africa.

This follows the WHO's declaration of this strain as a public health emergency of international concern.

The patient, who traveled to a high-risk area in Africa, was infected with the clade 1b strain, which has been spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since last September. The individual has received care, and Sweden is prepared to handle mpox cases safely.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, causes symptoms like fever, muscle aches, and skin lesions. It spreads through close contact and has been declared a public health emergency twice by the WHO.

In the DRC, there have been 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths this year, with the government enhancing vaccination, surveillance, and contact tracing efforts to control the outbreak.