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Europe reported first deaths linked to monkeypox in Spain
Health ministry of Spain said Saturday (July 30) that the country has reported a second death in as many days from monkeypox.
These are believed to be the first confirmed deaths from monkeypox since its outbreak in the European Union. The ministry gave no details on the deceased. It reported its first death from the disease on Friday (July 29) in the Valencia region, the Associated Press reported.
Valencia's Health Ministry said on Friday that the patient had died "of encephalitis caused by an infection" and said that the case was being "analysed to absolutely clarify the cause," the Anews reported, citing the DPA.
Regional newspaper Levante wrote that the victim was a man, aged about 40 and had been in an intensive care station in the city of Alicante.
Spain has been hit by monkeypox worse than many other countries, reporting 4,300 cases at 120 hospitals to date, according to the Health Ministry.
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Health authorities are administering 5,300 vaccines that Spain received from the joint EU vaccine purchase scheme. Health workers say that’s far fewer than the number needed to cover the at-risk groups.
The WHO has logged more than 22,000 cases worldwide. Europe has been particularly badly affected, with more than 14,000 of those cases.
It is worthy to noted that the virus has almost exclusively infected men.
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