Quebec confirmed monkeypox cases climb to 15

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Most cases of the disease are minor.

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak.
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. Photo by Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner /CDC via THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Quebec health officials are reporting 10 more cases of monkeypox, for a total of 15 confirmed cases across the province.

Last week, the province reported the first cases of the virus in Canada.

Health Department spokesman Robert Maranda said on Tuesday Quebec is considering ordering vaccines against the disease from the federal government.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said last week it was investigating about two dozen possible cases of monkeypox in the country in addition to the confirmed cases in Quebec.

Toronto Public Health said over the weekend it was investigating Ontario’s first suspected case.

Monkeypox is a rare disease that comes from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox, which the World Health Organization declared eradicated around the globe in 1980. It spreads through prolonged closed contact and can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and lesions.

“We do not have to panic at this time,” Montreal public health director Mylène Drouin said last week after Quebec confirmed its first two cases. “It’s not something that’s going to go to sustained community transmission. It’s not something you can acquire if you go to the grocery store or go on public transportation.”

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.


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