Speaking to reporters, Dr Theresa Tam said 112 cases of the disease had been identified across the country – 98 in Quebec. There are nine cases in Ontario, four in Alberta and one in British Columbia. Tam said all the patients are men between the ages of 20 and 63. Most of them had sex with other men. “We are constantly learning about this virus that we have not seen outside of African countries,” Tam said. Tam said doctors test people who have rashes and sometimes find diseases other than monkey pox. “They try a lot of people who are actually negative about monkey pox but positive about other things,” he said. “This is a way to put the net in the forefront of public health and some of those people who are being screened actually have very little skin damage, but they are still being screened and we are finding other causes.” Tam said the public health service is also examining sewage and other surveillance systems to detect cases of monkey pox and antibody levels in different populations. Tam said that genetic analysis shows that the strain of monkey pox that circulates in Canada is the same as that circulating internationally. He said a number of outbreaks appear to have contributed to the spread. Tam said doses of an effective monkeypox vaccine are available to people at higher risk of exposure and health officials recommend that people get the vaccine within four days of exposure. While the disease can be spread through sexual contact, it can also be spread through objects such as bedding, he added. The public health service said it could not confirm how many suspected cases there were across the country. While the federal government’s high-level laboratory in Winnipeg had done all the testing, it has begun working with provinces to allow provincial laboratories to test as well.
