Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Theresa Tam confirmed a total of 112 cases of monkeypox in the country.

According to the Xinhua news agency, Tam stated at a health briefing that these confirmed cases had been reported across the country, with one instance in British Columbia, four in Alberta, nine in Ontario, and 98 in Quebec.

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“Confirmatory testing is also being done by the National Microbiology Lab on a number of other suspicious cases. As a result, we’re bracing for additional confirmed cases in the days and weeks ahead “she stated.

The Officer stated that the ages of the cases for whom information is known range from 20 to 63 years old, and that all cases to date have been male, and that this virus can “spread to anyone” through close contact with an infected person.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization, or NACI, announced updated guidelines for the use of Imvamune, a Health Canada-approved vaccine for monkeypox immunisation, on Friday, according to her.

Individuals with high-risk exposures to a probable or confirmed case of monkeypox, or within an environment where transmission is occurring, should receive a single dose of Imvamune within four days of exposure, according to NACI.

Monkeypox is a sylvatic zoonosis that can infect people. It is most commonly found in forested areas of Central and West Africa.

According to the World Health Organization, it is caused by the monkeypox virus, which is a member of the orthopoxvirus family.
(with inputs from IANS)