Canadian health officials will be providing a technical briefing on monkeypox in Canada Thursday afternoon as more cases are confirmed in the country.

Quebec public health officials reported a total of 25 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the province as of Thursday.

Dr. Luc Boileau, interim public health director in the province, described it as a “serious outbreak” of the viral infection. Officials are investigating several more suspected cases.

“We had about 20 to 30 suspected cases under investigation so far,” Boileau said.

The province will also begin administering the Imvamune vaccine to close contacts of confirmed or suspected cases of monkeypox as soon as Friday. Boileau said the federal government has provided the supplies, which arrived earlier this week.

A leading adviser to the World Health Organization described the unprecedented outbreak of the rare disease as “a random event” that might be explained by risky sexual behaviour at two recent mass events in Europe.

The virus spreads through prolonged closed contact. It can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and lesions.

For more info, please go to https://globalnews.ca/news/8871264/quebec-monkeypox-25-confirmed-cases/

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