Sweden detects first case of mpox outside Africa

The first case outside Africa in the ongoing outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) was detected in Sweden on Thursday, Swedish Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed said.

“Of course we take this seriously,” he told a news conference, according to Swedish news agency TT.

The case was detected in the Stockholm region and involves a person who was in the area of ​​Africa affected by the outbreak.

“The person in Sweden has received treatment and rules of conduct (which he must follow) according to current recommendations,” said Olivia Wigzell.acting director general of the Public Health Agency.

The case does not increase the risk for the general Swedish population, Wigzell said, adding that no additional infection control measures are needed at this time.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared this Wednesday the current outbreak of mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (CDC), and that It has spread to other nearby countries, as a public health emergency of international scope.

This is the second time in two years that this infectious disease has been considered to be a threat to international health, an alert that was initially lifted in May of last year after its spread was contained and the situation was considered to be under control.

The new variant can be easily spread with close contact between two individualswithout sexual contact being necessary, and is considered more dangerous than the 2022 variant.