With 4 Monkeypox deaths reported from three countries outside Africa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday said that more fatalities are expected due to the continued spread of the viral disease.
“With the continued spread of monkeypox, we will expect to see more deaths,” Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer, WHO Europe said in a statement.
The WHO official asserted the target – “interrupting transmission quickly and stopping” the monkeypox outbreak. Smallwood also emphasised that most cases of the infectious disease heal themselves without requiring treatment.
This comes after deaths were reported from Spain, Brazil and India last week. Two people have died in Spain, which has been dealing with one of the biggest outbreaks. India, which had 4 confirmed cases, reported the death of a 22 year-old from Kerala from Monkeypox. Before this, 5 deaths from Monkeypox had been reported from Africa.
The outbreak that has since led WHO to declare a global health emergency was first reported back in May. In less than around 3 months, the cases have spread across 78 countries. As of July 28, WHO reported over 18,000 cases globally.
India has 4 confirmed cases – 3 in Kerala and one in Delhi. The first case of India, from Kerala, recovered and the patient was discharged from hospital.
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(With inputs from agencies)
