Spain and Brazil on Friday reported their first two fatalities linked to monkeypox, marking what are thought to be the first deaths brought upon by the virus outside of Africa.

Spain, one of the world's worst-hit countries, has 4,298 cases infected with the virus, according to the health ministry's emergency and alert coordination center, which said: "Of the 3,750 (monkeypox) patients with available information, 120 cases were hospitalized (3.2%) and one case has died."

The specific cause of death was pending the outcome of an autopsy.

A 41-year-old man also died of monkeypox in Brazil, local authorities said Friday. Local media reported that the man had serious immune system problems, and "was receiving hospital treatment for other serious conditions", as per the state's health ministry.

"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, noting that the patient was undergoing cancer treatment.

Brazil's health ministry has reported close to 1,000 monkeypox cases, mostly in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Global health emergency

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency last Saturday.

More than 18,000 cases have been detected around the world outside of Africa since the beginning of May, the WHO said.

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

While Nigeria dealt with monkeypox outbreaks for years, the media did not shed light on it, and not at the same level as today when the disease is spread in Western countries.

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