Germany reports first case of new mpox variant
It is the second European case of the new mpox strain since Sweden reported one in August.
Germany has reported its first case of the new type of mpox behind the major outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and neighboring countries.
The case, which was detected on Oct. 18, was acquired abroad and the risk to the general population remains low, Germany’s disease control agency Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced Tuesday.
“The RKI continues to monitor the situation closely and adjusts its assessment to the current state of knowledge if necessary,” the agency said.
The case in Germany is mpox clade Ib, a novel variant that first emerged in the DRC. It is an offshoot of clade I, a much more dangerous version of the virus than the one that caused the global outbreak in 2022. It is the second European case of mpox clade Ib since Sweden reported the first in August.
The World Health Organization and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared the mpox outbreak an international public health emergency in August. Mpox has killed more than 1,000 people in Africa so far this year.
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