The first case of the new mpox variant, clade 1b, has been reported in Germany by the country’s disease control center.
The Robert Koch Institute said the person was infected abroad but did not give any further details, including where the case was being treated but has said that it “is monitoring the situation very closely and adjusting its recommendations if necessary.”
The first case of the mpox virus variant outside of Africa was confirmed in Sweden in mid-August and another case was also reported in Thailand.
The World Health Organization has declared that the increasing spread of mpox in Africa is a global health emergency.
Mpox is an illness caused by the monkeypox virus. It is a viral infection which can spread between people, mainly through close contact, and occasionally from the environment to people via things and surfaces that have been touched by a person with mpox. In settings where the monkeypox virus is present among some wild animals, it can also be transmitted from infected animals to people who have contact with them.
Following a series of consultations with global experts, WHO has begun using a new preferred term “mpox” as a synonym for monkeypox
