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.

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.

China has recently identified a cluster of clade Ib mpox infections, with the source of the infection being traced to a foreign traveler who had visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in an online release on Thursday.

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.

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,