According to the Xinhua news agency, Tam said in a health briefing that these confirmed cases had been reported nationwide, with one case in British Columbia, four in Alberta, nine in Ontario and 98 in Quebec. “Confirmatory tests are also performed by the National Microbiological Laboratory in a number of other suspicious cases. “As a result, we are preparing for additional confirmed cases in the coming days and weeks,” he said. The official said that the ages of the cases for which information is known range from 20 to 63 years and that all cases so far were male and that this virus can be “spread to anyone” through close contact with an infected person. The National Immunization Advisory Committee, or NACI, announced updated guidelines for the use of Imvamune, a Canadian-approved vaccine for monkeypox, on Friday, according to the same. People at high risk of exposure to a possible or confirmed case of monkey pox or to a transmission environment should receive a dose of Imvamune within four days of exposure, according to the NACI. Monkey pox is a zoonotic disease that can infect humans. It is most common in forested areas of Central and West Africa. According to the World Health Organization, it is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the orthopox virus family (with data from IANS)
