Sweden confirmed its first case of the more contagious variant of mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact, marking the first time it has been found outside Africa. The person was infected while in a part of Africa where there was a large outbreak of the disease, Olivia Wigzell, director-general at the Swedish public health agency, told a press conference. Earlier on Thursday, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, after an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to other countries. “We have now also during the afternoon had confirmation that we have one case in Sweden of the more grave type of mpox, the one called clade I,” Jakob Forssmed, the health and social affairs minister, told a news conference. Wigzell said the person who had been infected had received care and instructions in line with the health agency’s recommendations. “The case is the first caused by clade I that has been diagnosed outside the African continent. The affected person has also been infected during a stay in an area of Africa where there is a large outbreak of mpox clade I,” she said. Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of the deadlier form of mpox, which can kill up to 10% of people, in a Congolese mining town and warned that it might spread more easily. Mpox mostly spreads via close contact with infected people, including through sex. 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 exceed last year’s figures. So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in a single country – Congo. “The emergence of a case on the European continent could spur rapid international spread of mpox,” said Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert and professor at Georgetown Law in Washington. “A case in Sweden most likely means dozens of undetected cases in Europe.” Dr Brian Ferguson of the University of Cambridge said the case in a Swedish traveller was concerning but not surprising, given the severity and spread of the outbreak in Africa. “There will likely be more here and in other parts of the world as there are currently no mechanisms in place to stop imported cases of mpox happening,” he said.