WHO issues dire warning for Europe after first Mpox case detected in Sweden

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency of international concern after the first case of a more contagious variant of mpox was found in Europe.

On Thursday, Swedish health officials announced that a person in Stockholm had been infected with the Clade 1b subclade, a viral strain that can spread through close contact and kills up to 10 percent of those infected.

The traveller was infected while in a part of Africa where there was a large outbreak, according to Swedish officials.

This marks the first reported case of the deadlier Mpox strain outside of Africa. The viral infection has so far run rampant in the Democratic Republic of Congo since September last year and has since spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert and professor at Georgetown Law in Washington, said the “emergence of a case on the European continent could spur the rapid international spread of Mpox”.

He said: “A case in Sweden most likely means dozens of undetected cases in Europe.”

The WHO has likewise warned that Mpox infections could surge in Europe over the coming days or weeks.

The UN health agency said it was discussing with Sweden how best to manage the newly detected case.

A spokesperson added: “There are likely to be further imported cases of Clade 1 in the European region over the coming days and weeks, and it is imperative that we don’t stigmatise travellers or countries/regions.

“Travel restrictions and border closures don’t work and should be avoided.”

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers the risk to the general population “very low”.

However, the panic over the Swedish announcement has already prompted China to act.

China announced today that it will begin screening people and goods entering the country for Mpox over the next six months.

WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in more than a dozen countries across Africa this year, which already exceeds last year’s figures. However, 96 percent of all cases and deaths have been in the DRC.

On Wednesday, the US Department of Health said Wednesday it would be “donating 50,000 doses of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved JYNNEOS vaccine to the DRC.

Meanwhile, Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic said it was ready to produce up to 10 million doses of its vaccine targeting Mpox by 2025.

Formerly called monkeypox, the Mpox virus was discovered in 1958 in Denmark, in monkeys kept for research.

It was first discovered in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.

The disease causes fever, muscular aches and large boil-like skin lesions.