Sweden has reported its first case of mpox, the Scandinavian nation’s public health agency reported. A person who sought care at Region Stockholm has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant. It is the first case caused by clade I to be diagnosed outside the African continent.
In this case, a person has been infected during a stay in the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade I. The person in Sweden who has been confirmed to be infected has received care and rules of conduct, said Magnus Gisslén, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the clade I mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in neighbouring countries a public health emergency of international concern.
Clade I causes the same disease as clade IIb, the variant previously found in Sweden, but is likely to be associated with a higher risk of a more severe course of disease and higher mortality. The previous global outbreak of clade IIb has mainly been spread through sexual contact, while clade I is more commonly spread through other contact routes, mainly close contacts within the household and often to children.
Disease assessment
Sweden has a preparedness to diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox 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 Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers very low. A new assessment is expected shortly. However, occasional imported cases like the current one may continue to occur.
Active infection control measures
Mpox is classified as dangerous to public health which means that there is a preparedness for infection control measures such as tracing, testing and rules of conduct. Sweden also has access to vaccines and antivirals.
“This case does not require any additional infection control measures in itself, but we take the outbreak of clade I mpox very seriously. We are closely monitoring the outbreak and we are continuously assessing whether new measures are needed,” said Magnus Gisslén.
Approximately 300 cases of mpox have previously been indentified in Sweden, all linked to the global outbreak of the clade IIb virus variant.
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