The Spanish Ministry of Health announced today, Saturday, the second death of monkeypox in Spain.
This is believed to be the first confirmed death from monkeypox since it broke out in the European Union. The ministry did not give details of the deceased. The Associated Press (AP) reported its first death from the disease on Friday.
A global outbreak of monkeypox has seen more than 2,100 cases in nearly 80 countries since May. There have been 75 suspected deaths in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Congo, where a more deadly form of monkeypox is spreading than in the West. Brazil also reported a death linked to monkeypox on Friday.
On Friday, the Spanish Ministry of Health announced that 4,298 people had contracted the virus, making it the leading European country in cases of monkeypox. Of that total, there were about 3,500 cases of men who had sex with other men. And it was only 64 women.
The ministry said 120 needed hospital care.
Health authorities administer 5,300 vaccines that Spain received from the European Union’s Common Vaccine Purchase Scheme. Health workers say this is far less than the number needed to cover high-risk groups.
Monkeypox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades. Its jump to Europe and North America has been linked by experts with two raves in Belgium and Spain.
It spreads primarily through skin-to-skin contact, but it can also be transmitted through bed sheets used by someone with monkeypox.
Symptoms include fever, body aches, chills, fatigue, and urticaria. The disease was relatively mild in many of the men. But people can be contagious for weeks, and the lesions can be very painful.
AOQ