WHO confirms first case of more severe mpox in Sweden

Stockholm/Chicago — The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Thursday confirmed a case of the more potent mpox type in Sweden was linked to an outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent a day after the WHO declared the disease a global public health emergency.

Swedish health officials said at a press conference that the person was infected while in Africa with the clade 1b type of mpox involved in the recent outbreak.

Olivia Wigzell, the acting head of the Swedish public health agency, said the infected person had sought care in the Stockholm area.

“This case in Sweden is a warning call for public health authorities to be vigilant and implement robust surveillance and contact-tracing strategies to detect possible new cases early on,” Dr Jonas Albarnaz, an expert in pox viruses at The Pirbright Institute, said in a statement.

Brian Ferguson of the University of Cambridge said the case in a Swedish traveller was concerning but not surprising, given the severity and spread of the outbreak in Africa.

“There will likely be more here and in other parts of the world as there are currently no mechanisms in place to stop imported cases of mpox happening,” he said.

The WHO in Europe said it was engaging with Sweden’s health authorities on “how best to manage the first confirmed case of mpox Clade 1b”.

The WHO on Wednesday declared the outbreak in Africa a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) after cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spread to nearby countries. A PHEIC is the WHO’s highest level of alert.

The global vaccine group Gavi said it has up to $500m to spend on getting shots to countries affected by the escalating mpox outbreak in Africa.

Both US and Canadian officials have said they have not identified cases of the more dangerous type of mpox .

“This is the first clade 1 mpox case to be reported outside of the African continent,” CDC spokesperson David Daigle said in a statement, noting that the agency is watching the outbreak closely.

The CDC recently issued a Health Alert Network update and updated travel health notice to inform US clinicians, travellers, and public health partners about the spread of clade 1 mpox into countries that have historically not reported them.

Clade 1b, the strain of the virus behind the current outbreak, is a new variant of clade 1 that is endemic in the DRC. Clade 1b appears to spread more easily though routine close contact, including sexual contact.

Clade 1 mpox tends to cause a higher number of severe infections and have a higher mortality rate than clade 2 mpox, according to US health officials.

SA has an outbreak of the less potent clade 2. The virus poses a serious threat to countries hard-hit by HIV such as SA.

In 2022, the WHO declared a public health emergency over an outbreak of mpox caused by clade 2, which led to more than 95,000 cases across 115 non-endemic countries.

Reuters