Brazil reports first monkeypox death

Shortly before Spain confirmed the first known death in the outbreak in Europe on Saturday, Brazil on Friday announced the first monkeypox-related death outside of the African continent in the current outbreak.

According to the health ministry, the 41-year-old victim from Brazil also had cancer and a weak immune system.

 

The patient was hospitalized in the city of Belo Horizonte in the southeast and passed away from septic shock after being transferred to the intensive care unit, according to the ministry.

 

Less than a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the rapidly spreading outbreak to the highest level of alert—a global health emergency—the first monkeypox death in the Americas occurred.

 

Authorities in Spain delayed disclosing the identity of the monkeypox victim.

 

Only five confirmed monkeypox deaths, all in Africa, have been documented by WHO to date.

 

According to the Pan American Health Organization, Brazil is one of the countries in the Americas most impacted by monkeypox, along with the United States and Canada, where more than 5,000 cases have been reported thus far (PAHO).

 

According to the Health Ministry, the South American nation reported 1,066 confirmed cases and 513 suspected instances of the disease, with the vast majority (744) occurring in Sao Paulo state.

According to ministry data, men who have intercourse with other men account for more than 98% of confirmed instances in the country, with an average age of 33.

 

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p dir=”ltr” style=”line-height: 1.38;margin-top: 0pt;margin-bottom: 0pt”>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 can get the disease regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.