Manitoba has detected what is believed to be the first confirmed case of a recently identified lineage of mpox in Canada. The province said Friday it has identified the first confirmed case of clade Ib mpox,

Canada's public health agency confirmed a Manitoba person contracted the more severe mpox strain. PHAC says public risk remains low.

The Manitoba government is reporting the first confirmed case of mpox in the province, noting it is also a strain that has not been seen in Canada before.

Canada has recorded the first ever confirmed case of Mpox Clade I variant in a traveller from Manitoba, as per reports from Canada's Public Health Agency (PHAC). The individual who has tested positive is said to have contracted the virus from central and eastern Africa.

The Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed the country's first case of a more severe type of mpox in a person in Manitoba, though it says the risk to the general population remains low. The agency says the travel-related case is associated with an ongoing outbreak of what's known as clade 1 mpox in central and eastern Africa.

While Canada has been dealing with cases of clade II mpox since 2022, this marks the first confirmed instance of clade I mpox in the country.