Brazil and Spain report first monkeypox deaths outside Africa in current outbreak

Brazilian victim was 41-year-old man with comorbidities

The Pan American Health Organisation has said that anyone can catch monkeypox regardless of gender or sexual orientation.. EPA

Brazil on Friday reported the first monkeypox-related death outside the African continent in the current outbreak, shortly before Spain confirmed Europe's first known death later in the day.

The Brazilian victim was a 41-year-old man who, the country's health ministry said, also suffered from lymphoma and a weakened immune system.

“The comorbidities aggravated his condition,” the ministry said and added that the patient had been admitted to hospital in the south-eastern city of Belo Horizonte, eventually dying from septic shock after being taken to the intensive care unit.

The first monkeypox death in the Americas came less than a week after the World Health Organisation declared the rapidly spreading outbreak a global health emergency, its highest level of alert.

In Spain, authorities did not immediately release details of the person who died from the disease.

A WHO report from July 22 showed that only five deaths had been reported worldwide, all in Africa.

Brazil, along with the US and Canada, is among the countries most affected by monkeypox in the Americas, with more than 5,000 cases recorded to date, the Pan American Health Organisation (Paho) reported.

In a press briefing this week, Paho said that anyone can get the disease regardless of gender or sexual orientation.