Mexico And Cuba Report Death Of People Who Test Positive For Monkeypox

Illustration of monkey pox. (Wikimedia Commons/Cynthia S. Goldsmith/Russell Regnery/CDC)

JAKARTA - Mexico and Cuba reported the deaths of two people who tested positive for monkeypox, although neither country has linked the deaths to the disease.

The report follows monkeypox-related deaths reported in Brazil and Ecuador in the past month, but deaths remain extremely rare in the current outbreak.

The Pan-American Health Organization has reported at least 21,200 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the Americas, with more than 80 countries worldwide have reported new cases of the disease that is endemic in parts of Africa.

Mexico's health ministry on Tuesday said experts were investigating the death of an HIV-positive patient who died of septic shock and pneumonia, after testing positive for monkeypox.

So far, Mexico has reported 386 confirmed cases and 862 possible monkeypox infections.

Meanwhile, Cuban authorities said a 50-year-old Italian man died on Sunday, after being diagnosed with monkeypox on Saturday.

The Ministry of Public Health said the tourist, who arrived on August 15, had been in an unstable condition since Thursday and was rapidly deteriorating.

The ministry pointed to an autopsy report which reported the cause of death as sepsis related to pneumonia and organ damage.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned people with immune deficiencies could be at risk for more serious symptoms and death after contracting monkeypox. Nearly 42,000 monkeypox infections have been reported worldwide since May.