BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany has detected its first case of the new mpox variant, the Robert Koch Institute for public health said on Tuesday, adding that it viewed the risk to the wider population as low.
The patient is a 33-year-old man who was isolated after being admitted to hospital for treatment on Oct. 12, the health ministry in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia said.
The case was detected in Cologne, the ministry said in a statement.
The results of more detailed testing showed on Oct. 18 that the patient had the clade 1b variant, a new form of the virus that is linked to a global health emergency declared by the World Health Organization in August.
The current outbreak originated in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has spread to neighbouring countries.
The patient in Germany is thought to have picked up the virus in an east African country, the state ministry said.
“The RKI currently considers the risk to the health of the general population in Germany to be low,” the RKI said, adding it was monitoring the situation closely and would adapt its assessment if necessary.
The RKI noted close physical contact was required for transmission.
The first sign of the virus’ spread outside the African continent came on Aug. 15 when global health officials confirmed an infection with a new strain of the mpox virus in Sweden.
Two patients in Norway have been diagnosed with the clade 2 variety of the mpox virus, the Oslo municipality said on Tuesday. Clade 2 is a less severe form of mpox than the clade 1b strain.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen in Berlin and Matthias Inverardi in Dusseldorf, Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Rachel More, Barbara Lewis and Alison Williams)
