Quebec is ready to vaccinate people who have come into close contact with monkeypox as early as Friday.
“It’s a serious outbreak of smallpox,” said Dr. Luc Boileau, Quebec’s interim director of public health. “We have 25 confirmed cases and there are other cases, probably 20 to 30 cases, that are being investigated so far.”
There is at least one case in a person under 18 years of age. They are currently isolated and public health officials say they do not plan to reveal much more information about this particular case.
Boileau spoke Thursday morning about the growing number of cases of smallpox in the province, 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 Sainte-Marie infectious disease expert. Justine Hospital.
On Tuesday, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) delivered a small amount of the Imvamune vaccine to Quebec from Canada’s National Strategic Emergency Stock Exchange (NESS) to boost its response plan.
The province says it will provide a dose of the vaccine to those who have come into close contact with an infected person.
“The recommendation is to give it four days after exposure with some flexibility for up to 14 days,” Quach explains. “If contact has been continuous or intermittent, we are giving a window period of four days after the last exposure.”
Boileau encourages anyone with symptoms to seek medical attention immediately and follow public health measures, such as wearing a mask and covering sores.
“Stay as isolated as possible. That’s what it will take to fight the contagion,” he said. “Avoid contact with immunocompromised people as well as pregnant women.”
He points out that the situation is serious but that it is not expected to reach infection levels similar to COVID-19.
Montreal public health reports that none of those affected are seriously ill and the risk of smallpox is low.
Doctors say they do not yet know how the virus reached the Quebec community, but that it may be linked to travel to other countries.
“We do not comment on specific situations,” Bergeron said when asked if public health plans to disclose the locations of the outbreak. “We would like to assure the people that we are aware and do what needs to be done.”
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.
Quebec reported its first cases of the virus last week.