Two samples from suspected monkeypox cases go through a nucleic acid extraction process as they are tested in a microbiology laboratory at La Paz Hospital in Madrid, Spain, June 1, 2022. REUTERS/ Susan Vera
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MADRID, July 30 (Reuters) – Spain reported its second monkeypox-related death on Saturday, in what is believed to be the second death in Europe from the disease and only the third outside Africa in current outbreak
Spain had reported its first death as recently as Friday, shortly after Brazil reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current wave of the disease. Read more
According to a World Health Organization report on July 22, only five deaths had been reported, all in the African region. The WHO last Saturday declared the fast-spreading outbreak a global health emergency, its highest alert level.
In its latest report on Saturday, Spain’s Health Ministry said 4,298 cases had been confirmed in the country. Of the 3,750 patients for whom he had information, 120, or 3.2 percent, had been hospitalized and two had died, he said without elaborating.
The first death occurred in the north-east of the Valencian Community and the cause was encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain associated with infection, local media reported, citing the regional Health Department.
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Report by Joan Faus; Editing by Hugh Lawson and David Holmes
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