Sweden has reported its first mpox case on Thursday, a day after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the infection a global public health emergency. With this, Sweden has also become the first country outside the African continent to report the more contagious strain of mpox virus.
The patient is believed to have contracted the virus during a visit to a region in Africa currently experiencing a major outbreak of mpox clade I. On Wednesday, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, following an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to other countries.