Jennifer McQuiston from the US health authority CDC also said that it must now be checked whether monkeypox played a role in the death or not. "It is important to emphasize that deaths from monkeypox, while possible, are very rare." With more than 40,000 cases of infection from the current outbreak worldwide, there have only been a “handful” of deaths, McQuiston said.

Monkeypox is a less dangerous relative of smallpox, which has been eradicated for about 40 years. For decades, the disease occurred primarily in some West and Central African countries. Since May, however, it has also been increasingly recorded outside of Africa. More than 18,000 cases have been reported in the US alone.

Typical symptoms of the disease include high fever, swollen lymph nodes and pustules similar to chickenpox. The disease is transmitted through close body and skin contact.