On Thursday night, Canada announced its first two reported incidents of monkeypox. Contributing to the increasing number of incidents of the widespread but seldom fatal disease in Europe and North America.
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“Tonight, the Province of Quebec was notified that two samples received by the NML (National Microbiology Laboratory) have tested positive for monkeypox. These are the first two cases confirmed in Canada,” the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a release.
Montreal public health officials announced 17 reported cases at a press briefing on Thursday morning.
Since the beginning of May, numerous cases suspected or known monkeypox illnesses have identified in Europe and North America. Raising fears that the disease, which was typically restricting to West Africa, is expanding. Fever, muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes, and a chickenpox-like rashes on the face and hands are the most frequent symptoms of monkeypox.
Spain verified seven cases of monkeypox in Madrid and is examining additional 22 cases; Italy verified its first occurrence as well.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted on Wednesday that anyone “can spread monkeypox through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores, or shared items (such as clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids or sores of a person with monkeypox,” noting that disinfectants in the home can eliminate the virus on surfaces.
Monkeypox received its name in 1958 when “two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research,” the CDC said.
The first known case of monkeypox in people “recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox,” the CDC said.
Furthermore, Monkeypox resurfaced in Nigeria in 2017 after a 40-year absence, according to the CDC. And over 450 cases have documented in Nigeria since then. With at least eight cases confirmed to have transported worldwide, according to the agency.
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