Belgium logs first death due to monkeypox

Belgium has logged its first death due to monkeypox, the Sciensano public health institute disclosed on Wednesday in its latest weekly update.

It said the patient also had underlying health problems.

Since the beginning of the monkeypox outbreak, 706 cases had been identified in Belgium up to Monday, as per Sciensano, which said, however, that the number of new infections seems to be falling. The last recorded case for which information is available dates back to 23 August.

The majority of those infected persons are men, who account for 699 of the 703 cases in which the sex of the patient is known. Few have had to be hospitalised: 32 out of 617 for whom information is available.

The monkeypox outbreak started in May, affecting mainly North America and Europe, according to the World Health Organisation.

Up to 31 August, more than 50,000 cases of infection had been recorded in 101 countries and territories worldwide. The virus has claimed 16 lives so far.