Sweden has recorded the first case of the mpox clade 1 variant outside Africa, after an individual was diagnosed in Stockholm.
Gatekeepers News reports that this variant is more severe and deadly, causing up to 10% mortality.
According to Magnus Gisslén, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden, “The patient became infected during a stay in an area of Africa experiencing an outbreak of mpox clade 1.”
Gisslén reassured the public, stating, “Sweden has the preparedness to diagnose, isolate, and treat people with mpox safely… The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers very low.”
This news comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of international concern, with over 15,600 cases and 537 deaths reported this year.
