The Philippines has reported its first case of mpox this year, but the health department was still determining whether it was the new and dangerous variant sparking global alarm. A deadly and more transmissible strain of the virus known as Clade 1b has killed hundreds of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and been detected in Sweden and Pakistan in recent days. The World Health Organization last week declared the mpox surge a public health emergency of international concern, its highest alert level.
