First case of more contagious mpox found outside Africa

Mpox, which was previously known as monkeypox, is transmitted through close contact, such as sex, skin-to-skin contact and talking or breathing close to another person.

It causes flu-like symptoms, skin lesions and can be fatal, with four in 100 cases leading to death.

There are two types of mpox, Clade 1 and Clade 2. While Clade 2 did cause a public health emergency in 2022 it was relatively mild and has already appeared in Sweden.

The Swedish public health agency said Clade 1 was likely to be linked to “a higher rise of a more severe course of disease and higher mortality”, external.

It said Clade 1 was more commonly spread through close contacts within households and often to children, while the milder variant was mainly spread through sexual contact.