The statement was issued on Saturday after Sweden confirmed the first case of the infection with this virus outside Africa.

In the meantime the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the clade I mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in neighbouring countries a public health emergency of international concern.

Since January 2023, the DRC has reported more than 22,000 suspect mpox cases and more than 1,200 deaths.

There are two types of mpox, clade I and clade II. Clade I usually causes a higher percentage of people with mpox to get severely sick or die compared to clade II, says the WHO.

Regarding the first case in Sweden, the patient concerned has been infected during a stay in the part of Africa where there is a major outbreak of mpox clade I. The person in Sweden who has been confirmed to be infected has received care and rules of conduct, says Magnus Gisslén, state epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Sweden was quoted as saying on the website of the Swedish Public Health Agency.

Responding to the inquiries from HINA, the HZJZ said that sexual contact can have an important role in the spread of the disease in the DRC.

According to some explanations, close or skin-to-skin contact during sexual intercourse is the main route of sexual transmission of this disease.

The HZJZ says that the risk for the spread of mpox clade in Croatia is low.

Vaccination against this disease is available, and persons exposed to higher risks are advised to be vaccinated.