On Thursday, Sweden's Public Health Agency confirmed the country's first case of the newly identified mpox variant, known as clade 1, marking the first known instance of this variant outside Africa. This development follows the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration that the strain represents a public health emergency of international concern.

"We have now, during the afternoon, received confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more severe type of mpox, the one called clade 1," stated Health and Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed during a press conference.

The infected individual had recently traveled to a region in Africa experiencing a significant outbreak of the clade 1 variant. According to State Epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen, the patient has received appropriate medical care and is being monitored.

The clade 1b strain has been actively spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since September 2023. The Swedish Public Health Agency reassured the public that the country is fully equipped to diagnose, isolate, and treat mpox cases 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 Center for Disease Prevention and Control currently considers very low," the agency stated.

Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, was first identified in humans in the 1970s in the DRC. The disease originates in monkeys and can cause symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, and large boil-like skin lesions. While originally transmitted from animals to humans, mpox can now spread between humans through close physical contact. Vaccines exist to counter certain strains of the virus.

On Wednesday, the WHO declared the ongoing mpox outbreak in the DRC and neighboring countries a public health emergency of international concern. This is the second time the WHO has taken such action concerning mpox, with the first declaration occurring during a 2022 outbreak.

DRC Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba reported that the country has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths this year alone, with all provinces affected. The most impacted regions include South Kivu, North Kivu, Tshopo, Equateur, North Ubangi, Tshuapa, Mongala, and Sankuru.

In response, the DRC government has implemented a national strategic vaccination plan against mpox, enhanced disease surveillance at borders, and established working groups to improve contact tracing and resource mobilization to control the epidemic.