Japan reports 1st death from mpox disease
Dec 14, 2023
Tokyo [Japan], December 14: A man in his 30s living in Japan's Saitama prefecture near Tokyo has died of mpox disease, the first such death in the country, the health ministry said Wednesday.
According to the ministry, the man suffered from immunodeficiency due to being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.
The man was diagnosed with mpox at a local hospital in September and died two months later, the ministry said, adding that he had no history of overseas travel.
Japan confirmed the country's first case of mpox in July last year. As of Dec. 3, there have been 227 confirmed cases in the country, the ministry said.
The disease causes high fever, headache and rashes, with serious symptoms lasting for about two to four weeks.
In May this year, the World Health Organization declared that mpox, also known as monkeypox, no longer represents a global health emergency due to a decline in new infection cases.
Source: Xinhua
