COPENHAGEN: The World Health Organization’s European office said Saturday that more monkeypox-related deaths can be expected, following reports of the first fatalities outside Africa, while stressing that severe complications were still rare.
“With the continued spread of monkeypox in Europe, we will expect to see more deaths,” Catherine Smallwood, Senior Emergency Officer at WHO Europe, said in a statement.
Smallwood emphasised that the goal needs to be “interrupting transmission quickly in Europe and stopping this outbreak.”
However, Smallwood stressed that in most cases the disease heals itself without the need for treatment.
“The notification of deaths due to monkeypox does not change our assessment of the outbreak in Europe. We know that although self-limiting in most cases, monkeypox can cause severe complications,” Smallwood noted.
The Spanish health ministry recorded a second monkeypox-related death on Saturday, a day after Spain and Brazil reported their first fatalities.
The announcements marked what are thought to be the first deaths linked to the current outbreak outside Africa.
Spanish authorities would not give the specific cause of death for the fatalities pending the outcome of an autopsy, while Brazilian authorities underlined that the man who died had “other serious conditions.”
“The usual reasons patients might require hospital care include help in managing pain, secondary infections, and in a small number of cases the need to manage life-threatening complications such as encephalitis,” Smallwood explained.
According to the WHO, more than 18,000 cases have been detected throughout the world outside of Africa since the beginning of May, with the majority of them in Europe.
The WHO last week declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency.
As cases surge globally, the WHO on Wednesday called on the group currently most affected by the virus — men who have sex with men — to limit their sexual partners.
Early signs of the disease include a high fever, swollen lymph glands and a chickenpox-like rash.
The disease usually heals by itself after two to three weeks, sometimes taking a month.
A smallpox vaccine from Danish drug maker Bavarian Nordic, marketed under the name Jynneos in the United States and Imvanex in Europe, has also been found to protect against monkeypox.
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WHO Europe expects more monkeypox-related deaths
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WHO Europe expects more monkeypox-related deaths
- Smallwood emphasized that the goal needs to be “interrupting transmission quickly in Europe and stopping this outbreak”
Australia’s Liberals elect net zero opponent as new leader
- The Liberals have endured an agonizing existential crisis since their second consecutive defeat by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor
SYDNEY: Australia’s opposition Liberal Party elected as leader on Friday a conservative who lobbied to drop its commitment to net zero emissions, as it seeks to counter an insurgent populist right and rebuild support after a disastrous election loss last year.
The Liberals have endured an agonizing existential crisis since their second consecutive defeat by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor, torn between centrist factions and right-wingers skeptical of climate legislation and multiculturalism.
Angus Taylor — a former energy minister — replaced Sussan Ley, the party’s first female leader who had been in office for just nine months.
Speaking following his election, Taylor said his party faced a choice: “Change or die.”
He struck a hardline on immigration, claiming “our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life.”
And he said the party would stand against “Labor’s net zero ideology.”
Ley was ousted after a leadership challenge was called on Thursday, leading multiple members of her team to resign.
Opinion polling showing it falling behind the right-wing populist One Nation had spooked her party’s leadership.
Far-right One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has long been a fixture on the fringes of Australian politics, sparking outrage last year wearing a burqa in parliament in a stunt condemned as racist.
In an upbeat statement after she was ousted, Ley thanked her supporters and said she would quit politics.
Last month she endured a public spat with longtime coalition partners the Nationals, with whom the Liberal Party has governed Australia for much of the past century.
And in November the party dropped its commitment to net zero emissions, introduced in 2021 by former leader Scott Morrison when he was prime minister.
New leader Taylor was seen as a key proponent of the decision to drop the commitment to zero emissions.
The son of a sheep farmer, he is seen as part of the Liberal’s conservative faction.
He attracted online ridicule in 2019 when he replied to his own social media post with: “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus.”
‘Best qualified idiot’
“Angus Taylor has just taken on the hardest job in politics,” Zareh Ghazarian at the Monash School of Social Sciences said.
“Angus Taylor now has to demonstrate what his vision is for the party, and what approach he will take to unite the party and galvanize support from the broader community,” he said.
Former Liberal leader and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull warned the party against further drifting to the right.
“That will condemn the Liberal Party to further irrelevance,” Turnbull, a prominent centrist, told national broadcaster ABC.
“A lot of people say about Angus Taylor is he has been the best qualified idiot they’ve ever met,” he said.
“He has this hugely qualified resume but then when you look at what done in politics so far it has been disappointing.”
Australia’s next general election must be held by May 2028.
The Liberals have endured an agonizing existential crisis since their second consecutive defeat by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor, torn between centrist factions and right-wingers skeptical of climate legislation and multiculturalism.
Angus Taylor — a former energy minister — replaced Sussan Ley, the party’s first female leader who had been in office for just nine months.
Speaking following his election, Taylor said his party faced a choice: “Change or die.”
He struck a hardline on immigration, claiming “our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life.”
And he said the party would stand against “Labor’s net zero ideology.”
Ley was ousted after a leadership challenge was called on Thursday, leading multiple members of her team to resign.
Opinion polling showing it falling behind the right-wing populist One Nation had spooked her party’s leadership.
Far-right One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has long been a fixture on the fringes of Australian politics, sparking outrage last year wearing a burqa in parliament in a stunt condemned as racist.
In an upbeat statement after she was ousted, Ley thanked her supporters and said she would quit politics.
Last month she endured a public spat with longtime coalition partners the Nationals, with whom the Liberal Party has governed Australia for much of the past century.
And in November the party dropped its commitment to net zero emissions, introduced in 2021 by former leader Scott Morrison when he was prime minister.
New leader Taylor was seen as a key proponent of the decision to drop the commitment to zero emissions.
The son of a sheep farmer, he is seen as part of the Liberal’s conservative faction.
He attracted online ridicule in 2019 when he replied to his own social media post with: “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus.”
‘Best qualified idiot’
“Angus Taylor has just taken on the hardest job in politics,” Zareh Ghazarian at the Monash School of Social Sciences said.
“Angus Taylor now has to demonstrate what his vision is for the party, and what approach he will take to unite the party and galvanize support from the broader community,” he said.
Former Liberal leader and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull warned the party against further drifting to the right.
“That will condemn the Liberal Party to further irrelevance,” Turnbull, a prominent centrist, told national broadcaster ABC.
“A lot of people say about Angus Taylor is he has been the best qualified idiot they’ve ever met,” he said.
“He has this hugely qualified resume but then when you look at what done in politics so far it has been disappointing.”
Australia’s next general election must be held by May 2028.
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