Federal health officials are strategically positioning doses of the monkey vaccine across the country in response to a growing number of cases, the deputy chief public health official said Thursday.
Dr Howard Nju told a news conference that there were now 26 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Canada – 25 in Quebec and one in Ontario.
The virus can cause rash, fatigue, muscle aches, fever and headaches. It is often spread by close contact with an infected person – especially by exchanging body fluids – but it can also spread by air or surfaces.
Nju said that while the risk of infection for the general population is low, health officials are closely monitoring the virus and want to be able to quickly vaccinate in response to outbreaks.
“After discussions among all the top medical professionals in Canada, we decided to take a targeted approach to vaccination and treatment,” Nju said.
“We have moved quickly to pre-positioning limited supplies of vaccines and therapeutic agents from our National Strategic Emergency Reserve or NESS in jurisdictions across the country.
WATCH The government has no plans for a monkey measles vaccine campaign
The government has no plans for a monkey measles vaccine campaign
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr Howard Nju said at a news conference that Canada was not currently seeking a campaign for the smallpox vaccine.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has already sent 1,000 doses of IMVAMUNE vaccine to Quebec, as well as a delivery of the antiviral drug Tecovirimat, also known as TPOXX.
Njoo did not say how many doses of vaccine have been sent to other provinces. He said PHAC is working with provinces and territories to determine their needs.
“We need to make sure that the vaccine can arrive in a short time if there is a need or demand in a particular province or territory, based on cases and contacts that are at high risk,” he said.
Njoo said PHAC does not see the need for a mass vaccination campaign at the moment.
Quebec’s director of public health, Dr Luc Boalo, said earlier on Thursday that the province would start offering the vaccine to high-risk individuals.
Quebec confirmed 25 cases on Thursday, all related to the greater Montreal area.
In a news release Thursday, the Quebec government said the province received the doses on Tuesday.
“High-risk contacts with a confirmed or probable case of monkeypox, as determined by public health authorities, may be vaccinated with a single dose of IMVAMUNE vaccine within four days of exposure,” the statement said.
“The second dose can only be given if the risk of exposure is still present 28 days later. The proposed doses will only be administered after a decision by the public health authorities. “
Monkeypox comes from the same family of viruses that caused smallpox, which was eradicated in 1977.
Nju acknowledged that the outbreak of monkeypox in Canada could be worrying for some people, especially with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He said the viruses that cause COVID-19 and smallpox spread differently.
“At this point, certainly based on what we’ve seen so far with epidemiology, [monkeypox] “It seems to be limited to certain individuals who have apparently been involved in activities involving close contact,” he said. “But there seems to be no evidence of what I would call more widespread in the community.”
Although the viruses are not the same, transmission can be prevented by many of the same practices used to control the COVID-19 pandemic – hand washing, physical distancing and wearing a mask, especially in public places.
The National Microbiological Laboratory in Winnipeg is currently completing the sequencing of monkeypox samples to help understand how the virus is spreading, Nju added.
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