Brazil Reports First Monkeypox Death Amid Current Outbreak That Caused Global Health Emergency

Brazil reported its first monkeypox death on Friday amid the current growing virus outbreak. According to Reuters, the monkeypox death in Brazil was the first virus-related death outside the African continent. Spain confirmed Europe's first monkeypox death later in the day.

The Health Ministry of Brazil did not release the details of the victim's identity, but the Brazilian was a 41-year-old man with serious immune system complications, the Daily Mail reported.

"The comorbidities aggravated his condition," Brazil's Health Ministry noted, adding that the victim also had lymphoma.

Officials said the man was admitted to the Eduardo de Menezes Hospital in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais. The patient reportedly died of septic shock after he was taken into the intensive care unit of the hospital on Thursday.

Monkeypox Cases in Brazil

As of Friday, Brazil reported at least 1,073 monkeypox cases in 15 states and the Federal District. The state of Sao Paolo is known to be the worst impacted by the monkeypox virus, with 818 confirmed cases, including three teenagers between 13 and 14 years old who tested positive on Thursday.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) noted that Brazil was among the countries most affected by monkeypox in the Americas.

Reuters reported that more than 98% of the confirmed cases in the South American country are men who have sex with men. According to data from the ministry, the average age of the victims is 33 years old.

Although most cases in Brazil are men, PAHO warned that the disease can still be contracted regardless of gender. On Thursday, Brazil's Health Ministry said they will open an emergency operation center to monitor the cases of monkeypox in their country.

"The immunization schedule must be two doses with an interval of 30 days between them," said Health Ministry Secretary Arnaldo Medeiros, adding they are negotiating with the manufacturers to acquire immunizers against the virus.

Global Health Emergency for Monkeypox Declared

Last week, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared monkeypox a global health emergency.

Ghebreyesus announced it after the U.N. health agency's expert committee could not agree on whether to apply the highest level of alert to the virus.

A global health emergency designation may help encourage more investment into combating a disease amid a scarcity of vaccines. It is the WHO's highest level of alert, but it does not mean that the disease is highly transmissible or lethal.

The same alert level was also issued for the Zika virus in 2016 in Latin America and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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