OTTAWA – Canada’s public health official says the world needs to build better defenses against communicable diseases, as climate change and other factors increase the risk of seeing more emerging infectious diseases in the coming years.
Dr. Theresa Tam’s comments come when Canada has now confirmed 58 cases of smallpox, with 52 in Quebec, five in Ontario and one in Alberta.
Globally, there are 550 confirmed cases in 30 non-endemic countries where the virus is not normally found.
Tam warns that while we know a lot about how the monkeypox virus behaves in countries where it is endemic, we know little about how it can behave in populations that are not vaccinated against it and do not have natural levels of immunity. .
Monkeypox is caused by a virus and spreads when humans come in direct contact with the virus, often through infectious sores, scabs, body fluids, or respiratory secretions during intimate and prolonged contact.
He says so far cases in Canada have not spread beyond a specific community where the first cases were identified, but this is always a risk and public awareness is key to identifying and tracking cases as soon as possible. .
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 3, 2022.
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