The country’s health ministry confirmed the death on Saturday as the number of cases rose to 4,298, making it the world leader in the caseload outside the US. The regions of Madrid and Catalonia record the most cases, with 1,656 and 1,406 respectively. At least 120 carriers of monkeypox required hospitalization in Spain, El Mundo reported, representing 3.2 percent of cases, as an expert warned more deaths could be expected. It comes after a “middle-aged” man from Alicante, in the Valencia region, became the first death in Europe on Friday. He has not been identified, but health authorities said he died of disease-related encephalitis, a serious condition that causes the brain to swell. This was followed by the death of a 41-year-old man in Brazil. He had severe immune system complications and was being treated at the Eduardo de Menezes Hospital in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, at the time of his death on Thursday. Eight deaths have now been reported as part of the outbreak, with five occurring in African nations where the virus is endemic Monkeypox has affected more than 16,000 people in 75 countries, according to a count by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Several countries have now begun to launch vaccination programs aimed at men who have sex with men, who continue to be the group most at risk (Image: Long queues form at Guy’s Hospital in central London on Saturday) Eight deaths have now been reported as part of the outbreak, with five occurring in African nations where the virus is endemic. Experts in Spain have said that the strain of the virus currently plaguing the country originated in Nigeria and is less deadly than that seen in other parts of the continent. But Alfredo Corell, professor of immunology at the University of Valladolid, warned: “We face the possibility of seeing more deaths.” While the average age of patients in Spain is 37, the age of those infected ranges from 10 months to 88. Several countries are now starting to launch vaccination programs targeting men who have sex with men, who continue to be the group most at risk. Huge queues for a hospital service were pictured at Guy’s Hospital in central London on Saturday, with similar scenes last weekend. It comes after sexual health services, particularly in the capital, have been forced to cut or even suspend tours and other services as they struggle to cope on the front lines of the outbreak. People queue to receive monkeypox vaccines during a pop-up clinic at Guy’s Hospital in central London on July 30, 2022 Last week, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global health emergency, meaning it now considers the current outbreak a significant enough threat that a coordinated international response is needed. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the statement despite a lack of consensus among experts serving on the UN health agency’s emergency committee. It was the first time the head of the UN health agency had taken such an action. “We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission that we understand very little about and that meet the criteria of international health regulations,” Tedros said. “I know that this has not been an easy or simple process and that there are different opinions among the committee members,” he added. The WHO announcement came after the virus spread to more than 75 countries. Director-General Dr Tedros said at the time that the risk of catching the virus in Europe was “high”. The WHO has previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the 2016 Zika virus in Latin America and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio. Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and western Africa for decades, it was not known to have spread beyond the continent or to move widely between people until May, when authorities identified dozens of isolated cases in Europe, the North America and elsewhere. Traditionally, people with monkeypox have developed fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, and muscle aches. Symptoms are followed by a rash that starts on their face or mouth and then spreads to other parts of their body – particularly their hands and feet. However, in some recent cases, patients first developed a rash in the mouth or around the genitals or anus. Anyone can spread monkeypox, but the current outbreak outside of Africa is focused almost exclusively on men who have sex with men. The virus is spread primarily through close skin-to-skin contact, usually with someone who has an active rash, and through contact with contaminated clothing or bedding. It is not as easily transmitted as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. “Covid is transmitted through the respiratory tract and is highly contagious. That doesn’t seem to be the case with monkeypox,” said Dr. Martin Hirsch of Massachusetts General Hospital.
