WHO confirms first case of new mpox strain outside Africa as outbreak spreads

FILE PHOTO: People stroll along the Standvagen quayside in Stockholm, Sweden, November 20, 2020. TT News Agency/Fredrik Sandberg via REUTERS/File Photo

STOCKHOLM/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Global health officials on Thursday confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden and linked it to a growing outbreak in Africa, the first sign of its spread outside the continent a day after the World Health Organization 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 Ib type of mpox involved in the recent outbreak. The person is receiving treatment.