Mpox, a virus that is closely related to chickenpox or smallpox, has been reported in Sweden as of Thursday. It is the first confirmed case of the virus outside of Africa. The report comes a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox (or monkeypox) a global public health emergency for the second time in two years.
The new strain of mpox is believed to be wreaking havoc in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where more than 14,000 cases and more than 500 deaths have occurred. The disease, which has primarily affected children, has also been detected in nearby countries that had not reported cases of mpox previously.
"The emergence of a new clade of mpox, its rapid spread in eastern DRC, and the reporting of cases in several neighboring countries are very worrying,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who had determined that the upsurge in cases was a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC).
“On top of outbreaks of other mpox clades in DRC and other countries in Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is needed to stop these outbreaks and save lives.”
"The current upsurge of mpox in parts of Africa, along with the spread of a new sexually transmissible strain of the monkeypox virus, is an emergency, not only for Africa, but for the entire globe,” added Committee Chair Professor Dimie Ogoina, who is an infectious disease specialist.
“Mpox, originating in Africa, was neglected there, and later caused a global outbreak in 2022. It is time to act decisively to prevent history from repeating itself," the committee chair added.
The viral infection spreads through close contact, although there are two distinct groups of the virus: clade I and clade II. Clade I, which is what the patient in Sweden is sick with, causes more severe illness and deaths and could kill up to 10% of those who get sick, while more than 99.9% of those with the clade II strain - which was responsible for the 2022 outbreak - survive.
Those who are immunocompromised, suffer from chronic diseases, have a history of eczema or other experiences with lesions on the skin are considered “high risk individuals” by healthcare professionals, as well as those who were exposed during the 2022-23 outbreak.