Friday, August 16, 2024 - Sweden has confirmed its first case of the more dangerous variant of mpox, marking the first time this strain has been identified outside Africa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the
outbreak a global public health emergency.
The Swedish Public Health Agency revealed on Thursday,
August 15, that the infected individual in Stockholm was diagnosed with the
Clade 1b subclade of the virus. This strain has been responsible for a
significant surge in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since
September 2023.
"A person who sought care in 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," the agency
stated.
According to state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen, the
patient contracted the virus during a visit to an area in Africa experiencing a
major outbreak of the Clade I variant. The patient has since received medical
care in Sweden.
The agency assured that Sweden is well-prepared to diagnose,
isolate, and treat individuals with mpox, emphasizing that this case does not
pose a significant risk to the general population. The European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers the risk to the
public to be very low.
The outbreak in the DRC has been devastating, with 548
deaths reported since the start of the year. On Wednesday, August 14, the WHO
declared the situation in the DRC and neighboring countries a public health
emergency of international concern.
Monkeypox was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is
now the DRC. The virus is transmitted from infected animals to humans and can
also spread through close physical contact between people. Symptoms include
fever, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions.
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