In Spain, the first two deaths related to monkeypox infection were registered over the weekend. The Ministry of Health in Madrid reported this on Saturday.
The first death in Spain was only reported on Friday evening. The Spanish state television broadcaster RTVE and other Spanish media reported that these were also the first MPX deaths in Europe.
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The deaths were reported to the World Health Organization and the European Commission, the ministry wrote. The state television broadcaster RTVE reported, citing the authorities, that both cases involved “young men”.
In a recent situation report on the current monkeypox outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded a total of five deaths – all of them so far in the African region.
The first death occurred in the Valencia region in eastern Spain. The regional Ministry of Health said on Friday evening that the death of the monkeypox virus (MPXV) infected patient was “caused by infection-related encephalitis (inflammation of the brain).”
Death could also be due to previous illnesses. According to reports from regional media such as “Levante” on Saturday, it is a “about 40-year-old man” who was in intensive care in a hospital in the city of Alicante.
No further information was initially known about the second death. In a recent situation report on the current monkeypox outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) recorded a total of five deaths – all of them so far in the African region.
Spain is one of the countries most affected by the infectious disease in the world. The Ministry of Health announced that there were around 120 hospitalizations in the around 4,300 cases recorded across the country so far.
Brazil also reported its first possible monkeypox-related death on Friday. However, it was a patient with other relevant diseases (comorbidities), said the Ministry of Health in Brasília at a press conference. The case is still under review.
In view of the rapid spread of monkeypox, the WHO declared the highest alert level last weekend. The outbreak is an “emergency of international concern,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva. The international spread of the infectious disease is very unusual. So far, it has essentially been limited to six African countries.
Against the background of the emergency declared by the WHO, it is important, among other things, that the EU states have solid systems for monitoring the situation and reporting new cases, wrote Kyriakides. That was lacking at the beginning of the corona pandemic.
