Hamilton Public Health (HPH) has the first reported case of the monkeypox virus, according to the city’s medical officer.
Authorities say the infected person is currently isolating at home and all contacts have been notified by the health unit.
The resident is believed to have most likely been infected during a recent visit to Toronto.
“At this time, the risk to the general public remains very low because we have not detected the virus circulating in Hamilton and the virus does not spread easily,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said in a statement Monday.
Read more: Monkeypox cases in Europe triple in past 2 weeks, WHO says
“Hamiltonians should not have to worry about going about their routine daily activities.”
Story continues below the ad
As of late last week, more than 5,000 cases of monkeypox had been reported from 51 countries around the world that don’t normally report the disease, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The number of infections in Europe accounts for about 90 percent of the global total, with 31 countries in the WHO European Region having identified cases.
Monkeypox, a viral disease that causes flu-like symptoms and skin lesions, is spread mostly by men who have sex with men outside of countries where it is common.
2:46 WHO director calls for increased testing, more access to vaccines and antivirals to fight monkeypox Previous video Next video
As of Wednesday, 276 cases of monkeypox had been reported in Canada, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Trending stories
-
In Ontario group homes where children were called “paycheques”
-
Who Killed Rita Horbick? A war crime in Ukraine, heartbreak and a flawed investigation
Four cases have been identified in British Columbia, five in Alberta, 67 in Ontario and 202 in Quebec.
Story continues below the ad
The World Health Organization’s Europe chief warned on Friday that cases of monkeypox in the region had tripled in the past two weeks and called on countries to do more to ensure the previously rare disease does not gain a foothold on the continent.
African health authorities have said they are treating a widening monkeypox outbreak as an emergency, urging rich countries to share limited vaccine supplies to avoid equity problems seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more: Quebec now has 211 confirmed cases of monkeypox as vaccination numbers rise
WHO Europe chief Dr Hans Kluge said in a statement that increased efforts were needed despite the UN health agency’s decision last week that the escalating outbreak did not yet warrant declaring a global health emergency.
“Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn the tide in the race to reverse the continued spread of this disease,” Kluge said.
Hamilton Public Health Services hosted a pop-up monkeypox vaccination clinic Thursday for at-risk community members by appointment only.
More than 60 doses of the monkeypox vaccine were administered to at-risk members of the community over the age of 18.
The city has not confirmed whether future clinics will be facilitated.
Story continues below the ad
— with files from The Associated Press
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Add Comment