THE Public Health Service of Canada announced last Thursday night the first two confirmed cases smallpox of monkeys in the country, after the Quebec authorities pointed out that they are investigating 17 suspicious cases.
Several countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Italy and Britain, have identified this rare disease, which is endemic to West Africa, in recent weeks. In the USA, a case has been detected in Massachusetts in a man who had recently traveled to Quebec.
«The province of Quebec was informed today that two samples taken by the National Microbiological Laboratory were tested positive for monkey pox. These are the first two confirmed cases in Canada“, He told Announcement by the Public Health Service of Canada (PHAC).
Health officials in Montreal – the capital of the province of Quebec – had told reporters earlier yesterday that there is a connection between the case in Massachusetts and some of the suspected cases in the Montreal area.
Smallpox is a rare, infectious diseasesimilar to the human smallpox that was eradicated in 1980. Although it is milder and most patients recover within a few weeks, in rare cases it can be fatal.
Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and fatigue. Patients may also develop skin rashes, which often start on the face and spread to other parts of the body, including the genitals.
There is no cure for monkey pox, which is transmitted through contact with an infected patient or body fluids, including saliva. The disease usually resolves on its own.
The disease is usually transmitted to humans by various wild animals, such as rodents or monkeys.
The increase of its outbreaks The World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday it was looking closely at some of the cases in Britain that appear to have spread within the gay community..
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