BARCELONA, Spain — Spain reported a second monkeypox death in as many days on Saturday. These are believed to be the first confirmed deaths from the disease in Europe since its recent spread beyond Africa.
The Madrid-based ministry said the two fatalities were young men. It reported its first death on Friday, the same day Brazil also reported its first death from monkeypox.
The global monkeypox outbreak has seen more than 22,000 cases in nearly 80 countries since May. There have been 75 suspected deaths in Africa, most of them in Nigeria and Congo, where a more lethal form of monkeypox is spreading than in the West.
In the United States and Europe, the vast majority of monkeypox infections have occurred in men who have sex with men, although health officials have stressed that anyone can contract the virus.
The deaths outside Africa come a week after the World Health Organization declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.
“The reporting of deaths from monkeypox does not change our assessment of the outbreak in Europe. We know that although the disease is self-limiting in most cases, monkeypox can cause serious complications,” he said Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergencies Officer, WHO Europe.
“With the continued spread of monkeypox in Europe, we expect to see more deaths. Our goal must be to quickly interrupt transmission in Europe and stop this outbreak,” he said.
On Friday, Spain’s health ministry reported that 4,298 people were infected with the virus, making it the leading European country in cases of monkeypox. Of this total, about 3,500 cases were of men who had had sexual relations with other men. Only 64 were women.
The ministry said 120 have required hospital care.
Smallwood said about 8 percent of monkeypox cases in Europe have required hospitalization.
Monkey pox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades. Its jump to Europe and North America was linked by experts to two radishes in Belgium and Spain.
Spanish health authorities are administering 5,300 vaccines that Spain received from the EU’s joint vaccine purchase programme. Health workers say it is far below the number needed to cover at-risk groups.
But the rush to buy limited vaccines from wealthier Western countries is putting Africa in danger of being left out.
Monkey pox is mainly spread by skin-to-skin contact, but it can also be spread through bed linens used by someone with monkey pox. Symptoms include fever, body aches, chills, fatigue and hives. The disease has been relatively mild in many men. But people can be contagious for weeks and the lesions can be extremely painful.
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AP medical writer Maria Cheng contributed to this report from London.