Monkeypox has killed its first victim in Europe as Spain confirms a fatality just a week after WHO confirmed it as a global health emergency

• Spain confirms first fatality from monkeypox since the outbreak began
• The news marks Europe's first confirmed death from the viral disease 
• Spain has been leading nation on the continent in terms of confirmed cases 

Spain has confirmed its first monkeypox death - and Europe's first fatality from the virus. 

The five previous reported deaths were all in African nations. 

Spain's Ministry of Health confirmed the fatality today as it revealed 4,298 cases have so far been notified. 

It gave no details about the person who had died and when it had happened. Only 64 of the confirmed cases in Spain have been women.

Earlier this month when the number of confirmed cases stood at just over 3,000 in Spain, it was identified as the monkeypox world leader. 

The earliest cases in May were linked to a gay sauna in Madrid and a Pride festival in Gran Canaria. 

Last week the World Health Organisation declared monkeypox a global health emergency, meaning it now views the current outbreak as enough of a significant threat that a coordinated international response is needed. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the decision to issue the declaration despite a lack of consensus among experts serving on the U.N. health agency's emergency committee. 

It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action.

'We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,' Tedros said.

'I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views among the members of the committee,' he added.

The WHO announcement came after the virus spread to more than 75 countries. Director General Dr Tedros said at the time the risk of people catching the virus in Europe was 'high'. 

The WHO previously declared emergencies for public health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, the Zika virus in Latin America in 2016 and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio. 

Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spread beyond the continent or to move widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of individual outbreaks in Europe, North America and elsewhere. 

Traditionally, people with monkeypox have developed a fever, swollen lymph nodes, headaches and muscle aches.

The symptoms are followed by a rash that starts on their face or mouth and then spreads to other parts of their body - particularly the hands and feet. 

However, in some recent cases, patients first experienced a rash in the mouth or around the genitals or anus.