French health officials announced on Tuesday its first case of a dangerous new strain of the mpox virus that has created havoc in central Africa.

China has detected the new mutated strain of the mpox virus for the first time, as the pathogen spreads to more geographies after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak in Africa a new global health emergency last year.

The new strain has been spreading across several Africa countries. Children and adolescents have been most affected in the outbreak that’s now spreading in Africa.

France has detected its first case of a new mpox virus, the health ministry said Monday, weeks after the World Health Organization maintained its highest alert level amid the epidemic.

France reported its first case of a new strain of mpox that has ravaged Central Africa over the past year, in a patient who had not travelled to the hotspot region. The patient in the French region of Brittany had been in contact with two people who travelled from Central Africa.

Chinese health authorities said on Thursday they had detected the new mutated mpox strain clade Ib as the viral infection spreads to more countries after the World Health Organization declared a global public health emergency last year.

The Chinese government on Thursday said it recorded five cases of a new Mpox strain, stating that the outbreak has been effectively handled. DAILY POST reports that Mpox is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by animals but can also spread from person to person through close physical contact,

Mpox spreads through close contact with infected people and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body. The symptoms can last 2-4 weeks, accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches,