First monkeypox deaths recorded outside Africa in Brazil and Spain
By Pedro Fonseca
Sao Paulo: Brazil on Friday reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current outbreak, shortly before Spain confirmed Europe’s first known death in the outbreak later in the day.
The Brazilian victim was a 41-year-old man who, according to the Health Ministry, also suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system.
“The comorbidities aggravated his condition,” the ministry said, adding the patient was hospitalised in the south-eastern city of Belo Horizonte and died from septic shock after being taken to the intensive care unit.
A resident receives a vaccine against Monkeypox in Barcelona, Spain. The country has recorded the first death from the disease in Europe.CREDIT:AP
The first monkeypox death in the Americas came less than a week after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the rapidly spreading outbreak a global health emergency, its highest level of alert.
In Spain, the Health Ministry declined to give further details of the deceased person.
In its latest report, the Spanish Health Ministry said 4298 cases had been confirmed in the country. Of the 3750 patients it had information on, it said 120 had been hospitalised – accounting for 3.2 per cent – and one had died.
WHO had so far reported only five confirmed monkeypox deaths, all in Africa.
People stand in long lines to receive the monkeypox vaccine at San Francisco General Hospital this week.CREDIT:SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/AP
Brazil, along with the United States and Canada, is among the countries most affected by monkeypox in the Americas, where more than 5000 cases have been reported to date, according to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
The South American country reported 1066 confirmed cases and 513 suspected cases of the disease, the vast majority (744) in Sao Paulo state, the Health Ministry said. More than 98 per cent of the confirmed cases are men who have sex with men, with an average age of 33 years, according to ministry data.
PAHO said in a press briefing this week that almost all cases had been reported among men who have sex with men between the ages of 25 and 45, but warned that anyone could contract the disease regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.
On Friday, the Philippines reported its first case of the monkeypox virus, detected in a citizen who returned from abroad earlier this month.
The 31-year-old had recovered but was isolating at home, while 10 people identified as close contacts including three from the patient’s household had been ordered to quarantine, said Department of Health Undersecretary Beverly Ho.
About 70 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease as confirmed cases crossed 20,300.
But, unlike COVID, it does not spread easily between people except through close contact, such as via bodily fluid and infected lesions or touching contaminated clothes, linen or towels. Australian health officials say transmission via respiratory droplets usually requires prolonged face-to-face contact, though the WHO has noted during this recent outbreak that the risk of aerosol transmission is not fully understood and those caring for infected patients should wear masks. Common household disinfectants can kill the virus.
”This global outbreak has, so far, mostly been detected in the sexual networks of men who have sex with other men.
The WHO has cautioned that no-one should assume the outbreak will remain only within this community.’
First monkeypox deaths recorded outside Africa in Brazil and Spain
