Monkeypox: After nine deaths, WHO says more fatalities may follow

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Global health watchdog World Health Organization (WHO), on Monday, said monkeypox, which has claimed five lives in Africa and four outside it, including one in India, may cause more fatalities.

“With the continued spread of monkeypox, we will expect to see more deaths,” Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO Europe, said in a statement on Monday, the media reported.

She emphasized that the goal should be to interrupt the infectious disease transmission quickly and stop this outbreak.

However, Smallwood stressed that, in most cases, the disease heals itself without needing treatment.

The latest monkeypox outbreak, first reported in May, has since spread to 78 countries with over 18,000 cases, according to the WHO’s last update on July 28.

Five monkeypox-related deaths were reported in Africa. Last week, they reported two deaths in Spain, one from Brazil and India.

A 22-year-old Indian youth from Kerala died on Saturday reportedly due to monkeypox.

The media reported he returned to the state on July 21 from the UAE and was admitted to a private hospital on July 27 after he developed encephalitis and fever. His lymph nodes were also swollen.

India has reported four confirmed monkeypox cases, three in Kerala and one in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the patient, who had the first reported case, also from Kerala, was discharged from the hospital on Saturday.

“Time for us all to act,” Smallwood tweeted earlier, adding that people most likely to be exposed to #monkeypox must reduce their exposures.

She also stressed the need to make “testing, healthcare & vaccination easy & quick.” “Cannot let #COVID-19 fatigue hold us back!”