Acting Director of Public Health Dr. Luc Boileau is expected to provide an update Thursday morning on the growing number of smallpox cases in the province.
He will be accompanied by Dr. Geneviève Bergeron, Medical Officer for Health Emergencies and Infectious Diseases of the Montreal Public Health, and Dr. Caroline Quach, a microbiologist and infectious disease expert at Sainte-Justine Hospital.
This comes after a total of 16 cases of monkeypox were confirmed in Canada, all in Quebec, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Most are found in Montreal, with 13 confirmed and 14 suspected infections.
Montreal public health says none of those affected are seriously ill.
PHAC says it is providing Quebec with a small amount of Canada’s National Emergency Strategic Stockpile (NESS) Imvamune vaccine to boost its response plan.
Smallpox is a rare disease in the same family as smallpox, which was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980.
Smallpox is not easily transmitted between people, it is usually transmitted through prolonged close contact with respiratory drops, body fluids or wounds from an infected person.
It is usually milder than smallpox and can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and ulcers.
Health officials point out that the risk of monkeypox is low.
Quebec reported its first cases of the virus last week.