Spain reports second monkeypox-linked death

Factfile on the current outbreak of monkeypox around the world, as of July 29

A smallpox vaccine from Danish drug maker Bavarian Nordic has been found to protect against monkeypox

Spain on Saturday reported its second monkeypox-related death, bringing to three the number of fatalities linked to the current outbreak outside of Africa.

Spain and Brazil both announced what they believed to be their first deaths related to the virus on Friday.

More than 18,000 cases have been detected throughout the world outside of Africa since the beginning of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

"Among the 3,750 (monkeypox) patients... 120 have been hospitalised and two have died," it said in a report, without specifying the date of the second death.

Brazil said a man with monkeypox died on Thursday in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the southeastern Minas Gerais state.

"It is important to underline that he had serious co-morbidities, so as not to spread panic in the population. The death rate is very low" for monkeypox, said Minas Gerais health secretary Fabio Baccheretti, who added that the patient was undergoing cancer treatment.

The WHO's European office said on Saturday that more monkeypox-related deaths can be expected.

The goal needs to be "interrupting transmission quickly in Europe and stopping this outbreak", she said.

Early signs of the disease include a high fever, swollen lymph glands and a chickenpox-like rash.

"The usual reasons patients might require hospital care include help in managing pain, secondary infections, and in a small number of cases the need to manage life-threatening complications such as encephalitis," she explained.

The disease has been detected in 78 countries, with 70 percent of cases found in Europe and 25 percent in the Americas, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

Ghebreyesus told reporters that the best way to protect against infection was "to reduce the risk of exposure".

The disease usually heals by itself after two to three weeks, sometimes taking a month.

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