At a press conference on Friday, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam, said that a few dozen cases
potential monkeypox were currently being investigated in Canada.
These cases come mainly from Quebec, but several contacts in British Columbia are also being closely monitored.
Also, Canadians should expect to see more cases of monkeypox in the coming days, Dr. Tam warned.
Characterized by fever, headaches, but especially the appearance of pustules on the body, monkey pox can be contracted by an exchange of body fluids or by the absorption of droplets. Present in 11 African countries, where it is endemic, the disease is generally cured by itself.
Currently, all cases of this disease are validated at the National Microbiology Laboratory, located in Winnipeg. However, discussions are underway with other laboratories to increase the country’s diagnostic capacity, Dr. Tam said.
We don’t really know the extent of the spread that has occurred in Canada
admitted the chief public health officer. What we do know, however, is that few of these people are linked to trips to Africa.
Dr. Tam assesses that at this point the overall risk to the population is weak
. Researchers are nonetheless working hard to determine why monkeypox appears to be in circulation here in Canada and elsewhere in the Western world – which they say is at the very least. unusual
.
The first two Canadian cases of monkeypox (monkeypox, in English) were confirmed Thursday by Quebec. Three others have since been added, the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) said on Twitter on Friday evening.
Radio-Canada first revealed on Wednesday that 13 potential cases of monkeypox were being examined in Montreal and that all the patients in question had been seen at L’Actuel, L’Agora and La Licorne, three medical clinics where sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) are diagnosed.
A limited stock of vaccines
On the other hand, the classic smallpox vaccine is known to show a fairly high rate of effectiveness against monkeypox. This is why some Western countries where the disease has been detected have started to stockpile.
Asked about the state of stocks in Canada, Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, explained that, in the immediate future, the country only has a limited number of doses, the vaccination against smallpox having ceased in 1971.
Smallpox has been eradicated since 1980, he recalled [mais] there may still be samples in laboratories that could one day cause an epidemiological event involving smallpox. This is why several countries, including Canada, have a certain quantity of vaccine doses against this disease.
« For the moment, we have a few doses [en banque] and we are always ready. We are discussing with Quebec for a possible use. »
Impossible, however, to know the number of doses the country has, the information is protected for a security issue, said Dr. Tam.
Recalling that the smallpox vaccine was not originally designed against monkeypox, Dr Njoo warned that efforts will need to be made in Canada and elsewhere in the world to update guidelines for the vaccine. use of this vaccine against a disease other than that for which it was designed.
The report by Sébastien Desrosiers
Globally, 80 confirmed cases and around 50 suspected cases have been identified so far by the World Health Organization (WHO), which organized an emergency meeting to take stock of this illness, Friday.
Although monkeypox can be very troublesome, it has not caused any casualties so far. The analyzes carried out suggest that the cases reported so far are all from a rather benign strain of the virus, whose mortality rate is around 1%.
Most cases have occurred in men who have sex with men. Moreover, a sauna in Madrid, suspected of being a source of infection, was forced to close its doors, local health authorities confirmed to AFP on Friday evening.
In a statement released on Friday, theOMS stresses the need to avoid stigmatizing anyone because of the virus. Such disapproval can be an obstacle to the end of an epidemic
because it can deter people from seeking care and lead to undetected spread
.
In addition to Canada and Spain, nine other countries have reported confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox: the United Kingdom, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, the United States USA and Australia.