Sweden confirmed its first case of the more contagious variant of mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact, marking the first time it has been found outside Africa.

The person was infected while in a part of Africa where there was a large outbreak of the disease, Olivia Wigzell, director-general at the Swedish public health agency, told a press conference.

Earlier on Thursday, the World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time in two years, after an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo that has spread to other countries.

Wigzell said the person who had been infected had received care and instructions in line with the health agency’s recommendations.

China announced Friday it would begin screening people and goods entering the country for mpox over the next six months.

People travelling from countries where virus outbreaks have occurred, who have been in contact with mpox cases or display symptoms should “take the initiative to declare to customs when entering the country”, China’s customs administration said in a statement.

Vehicles, containers and items from areas with mpox cases should also be sanitised, the statement added.

Earlier this year, scientists reported the emergence of a new form of the deadlier form of mpox, which can kill up to 10% of those infected, in a Congolese mining town and warned that it might spread more easily. Mpox mostly spreads via close contact with infected people, including through sex.

WHO said there have been more than 14,000 cases and 524 deaths in more than a dozen countries across Africa this year, which already exceed last year’s figures.

So far, more than 96% of all cases and deaths are in a single country – Congo.

“The emergence of a case on the European continent could spur rapid international spread of mpox,” said Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert and professor at Georgetown Law in Washington. “A case in Sweden most likely means dozens of undetected cases in Europe.”

Dr Brian Ferguson of the University of Cambridge said the case in a Swedish traveller was concerning but not surprising, given the severity and spread of the outbreak in Africa.

“There will likely be more here and in other parts of the world as there are currently no mechanisms in place to stop imported cases of mpox happening,” he said.

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