Sweden confirms first case of contagious mpox outside Africa

Sweden said Thursday that a person who recently traveled to Africa was diagnosed with a type of mpox that can be spread through close contact.

The case is significant because it’s the first known case of the contagious variant outside Africa.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and surrounding countries are dealing with a significant outbreak of mpox, formerly known as monkeypox. The World Health Organization said the situation is a public health emergency of international concern, meaning the disease could slip across borders.

The Public Health Agency of Sweden confirmed those fears. The unidentified person has a case of clade I, the strain battering Africa. It can be spread through close contact — say, in cramped conditions or households — and differs from the clade II that caused a previous global outbreak and was mainly spread through sexual contact.

There are fears that clade I is associated with a higher mortality. African nations have reported over 500 deaths, most of them in the DRC.

Swedish authorities said the overall risk to the population remains low.

“Sweden has a preparedness to diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely,” its health agency said. “The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population.”

The agency added, “Occasional imported cases like the current one may continue to occur.”

In the past, Sweden identified over 300 cases of mpox — all of them of the clade II variety.