RIO DE JANEIRO, 15th November, 2026 (WAM) -- Brazil has recorded its first death from mpox in 2026; however, public health authorities do not consider the rise in infections to have reached the level of an outbreak, according to a public health institute.
Brazil has logged 1,009 confirmed cases of the virus this year, as stated in a report released Friday by the Fiocruz, a Brazilian public research institute affiliated with the Ministry of Health.
The death occurred in Rio de Janeiro, where the number of confirmed cases between last September and this November was double the total recorded during the rest of the year.
In 2022 and 2024, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the current mpox outbreak a global Public Health Emergency of International Concern as it spread rapidly in some countries.
Mpox is a viral illness caused by the monkeypox virus, a species of the genus Orthopoxvirus. Common symptoms of mpox are a skin rash or mucosal lesions which can last 2–4 weeks accompanied by fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, low energy and swollen lymph nodes.
Mpox can be transmitted through close contact with someone who has mpox, with contaminated materials, or with infected animals.