France has reported its first case of the new mpox variant, the country’s public health agency announced Tuesday, bringing the total number of EU cases to eight.
The individual, located in Brittany, had been in contact with two people who had recently returned from Central Africa. French authorities said they were working to identify all contacts.
Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the U.K. have all reported cases, although there have been no major outbreaks outside Africa. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says the risk to the general population in Europe is low.
Mpox clade Ib first emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a subtype of clade I, a more severe form of mpox than clade II — the latter was behind the global outbreak in 2022.
Mpox causes a painful rash with skin lesions that can last for two-to-four weeks, as well as other symptoms including fever, headache, aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
There were more than 50,000 suspected cases and over 1,000 deaths in Africa from mpox last year.