Quebec offers monkeypox vaccines to high-risk contacts
STORY: Montreal resident Ludvic Moquin-Beaudry, said he felt "safer" after getting his vaccination.
"Now that I got my shot done I feel pretty safe, well, safer, and confident that I'm doing my part in this fight against Monkeypox. Though, I still have to wait a few days, 7 to 10 days before my immunity system is up for battle. But yeah, I feel good," he told Reuters.
As of Friday (June 3), the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed 77 cases of monkeypox with 71 in Quebec, five in Ontario and one in Alberta, with more cases from other parts of the country expected.
Around 30 countries where monkeypox is not endemic have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, with more than 911 confirmed or suspected cases, mainly in Europe, according to the World Health Organization, Reuters reporting and local data. Scientists are trying to pin down the reasons behind the spread.
Monkeypox, which spreads through close contact and was first found in monkeys, typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled skin lesions that usually resolve on their own within weeks but can kill a small fraction of those infected.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), monkeypox is a rare viral infection similar to human smallpox, though milder, first recorded in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1970s.
