By Bhanvi Satija and Jennifer Rigby

Aug 16 (Reuters) - The European Centre for Disease

Prevention and Control on Friday raised its risk level for mpox,

a day after global health officials confirmed one case of

infection with a new strain of the virus in Sweden, the first

outside Africa.

The EU public health body's head said there will be more

imported cases of the new mpox strain in Europe in the coming

weeks, though the risk of sustained transmission remains low.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared mpox a

global public health emergency, its highest form of alert,

following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo that

has spread to neighbouring countries.

Mpox, a viral infection that causes pus-filled lesions and

flu-like symptoms, is usually mild but can kill. Two strains are

now spreading in Congo - the endemic form of the virus, clade I,

and a new offshoot called clade Ib.

The ECDC on Friday raised its risk level assessment for mpox

to "moderate" from "low" for sporadic cases appearing in the

bloc, and asked countries to maintain high levels of awareness

among travellers visiting from affected areas.

"Due to the close links between Europe and Africa, we must

be prepared for more imported clade I cases," its director

Pamela Rendi Wagner said.

Pakistan also confirmed on Friday a case of the mpox virus

in a patient who had returned from a Gulf country, though it was

not clear whether it was of the new variant or of the clade that

has been spreading globally since 2022.

WHO official Margaret Harris said on a media call on Friday

that she expects more cases outside Africa to emerge soon, also

as a result of heightened monitoring.

However, the WHO has advised against any travel restrictions

to stop the spread of the virus.

China said on Friday it plans to monitor people and goods

entering the country for mpox for the next six months.

DIAGNOSTICS

Far more diagnostic kits, treatments and vaccines need to be

shipped to Africa to respond adequately to the outbreak of the

new strain of the mpox virus there, an official of the Red Cross

and Red Crescent humanitarian network said on Friday.

The head of global vaccine group Gavi told Reuters it has up

to $500 million to spend on getting shots to countries affected

by the escalating outbreak in Africa.

Shares in pharmaceutical companies developing mpox vaccines

rose on Friday.

Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic's ( BVNKF ) shares

soared more than 15% after it said it had submitted data to the

EU's drug regulator for approval to extend the use of its mpox

and smallpox vaccine to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Shares in New Jersey-based Tonix Pharmaceuticals ( TNXP )

also leapt after the company said it will advance development of

its mpox vaccine candidate.

"We are motivated to advance development for our mpox

vaccine with urgency given the global public health emergency,"

its CEO Seth Lederman said.

Shares of mpox vaccine developers Emergent BioSolutions ( EBS )

and GeoVax Labs ( GOVX ) also rose premarket.