New Brunswick is ready to fight monkeypox, as Newfoundland announces 1st probable case

New Brunswick is ready if any cases of monkeypox are confirmed in the province, saystheacting chief medical officer of health.

Public Health currently has 140 doses of the Imvamune vaccine on hand, said Dr.Yves Lger.

"They will be used in alignment with NACI(National Advisory Committee on Immunization) guidance. So specifically for managing cases and contacts," he said.

The post-exposure vaccine may decrease the severity of the disease or prevent it entirely, according to health officials.

On Thursday, Newfoundland and Labrador announced it has a probable case. Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Rosann Seviourdidn't confirm where the probable case originatedbut noted most viruses enter the province through travel.

Contact tracing is underway, andanyoneidentified as a close contact of a person who has monkeypox will be offered a vaccine, Seviour said.

A total of 745 cases of monkeypox have now been confirmed across Canada 346 in Quebec,326 in Ontario, 58 in B.C., 12 in Alberta, two in Saskatchewan and one inYukon.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed the international outbreak of the virusa global emergencyits highest level of alert.

The number of cases globallyhas increased 48 per centover the previous week and the disease has now spread to 75 countries, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

More than 16,000 cases have been reported worldwide, although officials believe the true number is higher.

Still time to stop the spread

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said Wednesday the spread of monkeypox is "of serious concern."

Still, "there is optimism that by focusing efforts in Canadaand worldwide, we can seize this window of opportunity to contain the spread," she said during a news conference.

She noted the disease has, so far,been limited almost exclusively to men, with99 per cent of those infected beingmale and over the age of 36. In Canada, most of the reported cases have been among men who have sex with men.

Tam contends the outbreak in Canadacan be stopped by employing specific strategies that target the right groups of people.

Those strategies, she said,could include a public awareness campaign that focuses ongay and bisexual men through community organizations, educational settings and dating apps like Grindr.

'Working behind the scenes quite readily'

New Brunswick Public Health has "certainly been working behind the scenes quite readily to make sure that we're prepared for any cases should they occur here," said Lger.

This includes developingguidance on how tomanage cases and contacts, and surveillance activities, he said.

"There willbe some communications activities that will be occurring as well on that topic."

Lgerwas unable to provide more details.

Earlier this month, Dr. Jennifer Russell,the province's chief medical officer of health, said Public Health was working on a public awareness campaign, which will includemessagingaround prevention and risk.

Tam said little is known about howmonkeypoxis spread and how people can protect themselves.

But she urged vulnerable groups, such as men who have sex with men, to get vaccinated to curb the spread.

Canada has a sufficientsupply of the vaccine for now, she said. About 70,000 doses ofImvamunehave been sent to the provinces and roughly 27,000 of those have been administered, according to thePublic Health Agency of Canada.

The national health agency isalso asking men who have sex with men to practise safe sex and to limit their number of partners, especially if those partners are casual acquaintances.

In addition to the public awareness campaign, New Brunswick Public Health isputting together some resources for clinicians, Russell has said. Many doctors have likelynever seen a case, notedNew Brunswick Medical Society president Dr. Mark MacMillan.

Monkeypox is an orthopoxvirus that causes a disease with symptoms similar to, but less severe thansmallpox, which was eradicated in 1980.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, monkeypox is usually a mild illness and most people recover on their own after a few weeks. But some people canbecome very sick and even die.