The first case of the new mpox variant has been reported in France, bringing the total number of cases in the EU to eight, according to Politico.
The man in Brittany came into contact with two people who had recently returned from Central Africa.
Cases have been reported in Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the UK. However, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control stated that the risk to the general population in Europe was low.
Mpox clade Ib first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a more severe form of mpox than clade II, which was behind the global outbreak in 2022. The disease can cause a painful rash with skin lesions, fever, headache, back pain, collapse and enlarged lymph nodes.
Last year, there were more than 50,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 deaths from mpox in Africa.
