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Spain registers monkeypox death; media say it’s a first

This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. The World Health Organization recently declared the expanding monkeypox outbreak a global emergency. It is WHOs highest level of alert, but the designation does not necessarily mean a disease is particularly transmissible or lethal. (NIAID via AP) (Uncredited)

MADRID – Spain on Friday reported the death of a person from monkeypox, which Spanish media said was a first for the European Union nation.

In its latest report on the virus, Spain’s Health Ministry said 120 people had been admitted to the hospital so far with monkeypox and one had died. Spain’s state news agency Efe and other media outlets said it was the country's first monkeypox death.

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The ministry gave no further details regarding the death. It said Spain had 4,298 people infected with the virus. Of that, some 3,500 cases were of men who had had sex with other men. Of the total, only 64 were women.

Experts suspect that monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were ignited by sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain. The current outbreak is by far the biggest involving the virus, and it’s been designated by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency.