The first confirmed monkeypox infection in British Columbia is an “isolated case” and the risk is low, health officials said this week.
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Dr. Mark Lisishin, deputy chief health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, said the Vancouver resident was in close contact with another person with a confirmed case of monkeypox in Quebec.
Public health monitors contacts and supports the individual at home.
Canada has confirmed at least 77 cases of the virus, which has erupted in a number of countries where it has not been seen in recent weeks.
As of Saturday, there are about 780 identified cases in countries outside Central and West Africa, where it is more common, according to the World Health Organization.
Monkeypox is a disease caused by the monkeypox virus that is transmitted through close physical contact with wounds and lesions, items such as bedding, towels and utensils, and respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact with someone who is infected.
It is not known to be sexually transmitted through semen, blood or vaginal discharge, but it can be spread through close physical contact during sex.
Symptoms include fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, open lesions on the genitals and arms, and headache. Symptoms may develop five to 21 days after infection, and the wounds may spread throughout the body.
Older people, young babies and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious symptoms and death.
About three to six percent of reported cases have led to death in endemic countries, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO notes that this may be overestimated, as limited testing in this area means that many non-fatal cases have not been identified.
“Most people with this strain of monkeypox don’t actually get very sick, and although it takes a few weeks for the rash to go away, most people improve on their own,” Lisishin said.
And the risk of transmission to the general population is low, according to the BC Centers for Disease Control.
“Here in British Columbia, we don’t believe we have a continuous transmission from the community. This is an isolated case, which is related to a group of cases elsewhere, “he said. “But if people travel to places where monkeypox occurs, we want them to have safe sex and watch for symptoms after their return.
BC is very unlikely to see broader public health measures such as protection against the COVID-19 pandemic, as monkeypox is transmitted differently and much more easily than COVID-19, Lisishin said.
“There have been groups of cases of monkeypox outside endemic countries before, and there is a tendency for some kind of transmission, but then it calms down because people are generally not physically unprotected with many people over and over again,” he said.
The current outbreak is mainly among men who have sex with men, spreading it through sexual contact, he said, which is different from previous groups.
“It is assumed that at some point someone with smallpox came to Europe and then this kind of show started happening among the community of men who have sex with men,” Lisishin said. “And so it seems to be spreading on this social and sexual network.”
Men who have sex with men are usually overrepresented in official disease reports because they have excellent health-seeking behavior, according to the WHO. As a result of the devastation of the HIV / AIDS epidemic, they are more likely to notice, report and seek treatment for sexually transmitted infections and other communicable diseases.
We need better messages about Monkeypox read more
Lisishin encouraged men who have sex with men and their close contacts to have safer sex and to monitor their symptoms. “It’s not about condemning this community, it’s just about informing people who are at increased risk.”
And if someone believes they have monkeypox, they need to isolate themselves from close contacts and contact public health to be tested.
Vancouver Coastal Health is currently monitoring the situation and tracking contacts.
Canada has vaccines that can protect people who have been exposed to more severe symptoms, which public health will apply to close contacts on a case-by-case basis.
“But if we start seeing cases that have been spontaneous here in British Columbia that have nothing to do with other cases or other cases elsewhere, it may be more worrying,” Lisishin said. “And we will have to change our strategy.”
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