Cases of monkeypox continue to accumulate in Quebec as the Ministry of Health now reports 15 confirmed cases of infections.
Health Quebec announced this new report in a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
According to information made available by the ministry, the symptoms of the infection “consist mainly of skin lesions in the mouth and genital areas”. Other symptoms include fever, night sweats, headache, swollen glands, and joint or muscle pain.
People who have had sexual contact with or live in the same household as a suspected case are asked to monitor themselves for symptoms over the next 21 days. It is also mentioned that infected people could be contagious up to five days before the appearance of their symptoms.
In the event of the appearance of symptoms, people are invited to isolate themselves at home, wear a mask, cover their lesions and consult a health professional by informing them of the situation beforehand.
Other cases awaiting confirmation
“Other samples from jurisdictions in Canada are on their way to the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg for testing and we expect more cases to be confirmed in the coming days,” said in a written statement the Minister of Health of Canada Jean-Yves Duclos.
He says he is aware that Canadians are worried.
Mr. Duclos points out that the Public Health Agency of Canada has implemented several measures to detect cases and contain the spread of monkeypox. “Our surveillance system is working, as is our screening system, but we will continue to refine both,” he says.
The government convened a meeting of the nation’s chief medical officers last weekend to discuss other response strategies, including appropriate clinical practices.
Quebec was to receive “a small amount of doses” of the Imvamune vaccine on Tuesday. Mr. Duclos indicates that the response plan includes “the availability of the Imvamune vaccine and the drugs stored in our National Emergency Strategic Reserve in administrations across the country”.
“I would like to say again to the Canadian people that the situation is different from what it was with the emergence of the COVID-19 “, declared the federal minister. He explained that knowledge about monkeypox is “deepening” in addition to having quantities of vaccines that are maintained.
Over the next few days, Canada will be releasing infection prevention and control updates.
Also called “monkey pox”, this rare viral disease is part of the smallpox family, but remains more benign. It is generally limited to Africa. Rare cases in the United States and elsewhere are usually travel-related.
However, cases have recently been confirmed or suspected in a number of countries, including the UK, Portugal and Spain.
Most infections last two to four weeks. Infections with this strain of monkeypox are fatal in about 1 in 100 infected people, but the death rate may be higher in immunocompromised people.