OttawaCanada’s Public Health Agency confirmed on Monday that the country has so far recorded a total of 235 cases of monkeypox. The health agency provided an update on the confirmed cases in a statement, adding that two cases were reported from British Columbia, four from Alberta, 45 from Ontario and 184 from Quebec, reports Xinhua news agency. According to the statement, the National Microbiology Laboratory continues to conduct tests to confirm the diagnosis of monkeypox for suspected cases, while provincial/territorial public health and health care systems are investigating the case and managing the outbreak.
The health agency said provinces and territories also have access to vaccines approved in Canada, which can be used to manage monkeypox in their jurisdiction.
It said the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has issued recommendations for the use of Health Canada-approved vaccine, Immune, for vaccination against monkeypox.
Provincial and regional public health officials have launched their monkeypox vaccination campaigns and started vaccinating people at high risk, the statement said.
Monkeypox is a sylvatic zoonosis that can cause infection in humans and the disease most commonly occurs in forested parts of Central and West Africa.
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It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus family.
So far there have been 4,357 confirmed cases of monkeypox in 48 countries, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the UK reporting the highest number of cases at 910.