Canada: 2022 - 2023 Mpox

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While an outbreak in the DRC worries: three new cases of mpox reported in Montreal

This comes as the WHO fears a new global surge in cases of the virus previously called monkeypox

Olivier Faucher| Published on December 22, 2023 at 7:30 p.m.


During the month of December, three cases of mpox were confirmed by the Montreal Regional Public Health Department (DRSP). Mpox is the official WHO name for the terms now to be banned: monkey pox or simian pox.


These are the first cases detected in almost three months in the metropolis, since the last one dates back to August 2023, indicated Marianne Paquette, spokesperson for the DRSP.

WORRYING OUTBREAK IN THE DRC
These infections come as a major outbreak of another strain of the virus, also called “clade I”, which occurred in recent months in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) worries the WHO.

“It represents a risk for the rest of the world,” warned Rosamund Lewis, WHO technical manager for this disease, during a press briefing on December 15.

Especially since the strain behind the outbreak of cases in the DRC “is possibly more virulent,” maintains Michel Libman, an infectious diseases expert from McGill University.

The latter is concerned about the situation in the DRC and fears that the scenario of summer 2022 will repeat itself.

“That's more or less how the outbreak started last time. It was in Nigeria, there was an importation of a few cases into several countries and it grew.”

In 2022, an outbreak of mpox in several countries which did not spare Montreal forced the authorities to launch a vaccination operation targeting in particular men from the LGBTQ community and sex workers, because it is transmitted through prolonged contact with the skin.

Globally, mpox transmission has generally accelerated in recent months. Last summer, around 100 cases were reported monthly to the WHO, while now the number hovers around 1,000, Dr. Lewis said .


ADDITIONAL ANALYZES PLANNED
As for the cases reported in December in Montreal, the DRSP plans “additional analyses” to determine whether they correspond to clade I.

Since only one laboratory in Quebec has the capacity to do this type of analysis, the results will be known in several weeks.

“The three recent cases confirmed in Montreal have symptoms similar to what has been observed since the start of the global mpox epidemic in May 2022. No serious presentation has been reported,” said Ms. Paquette .

No cases of clade I have been reported in North America at the moment, specifies Ms. Paquette .
...

https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2023/12/22/trois-nouveaux-cas-de-mpox-signales-a-montreal

[Mary Wilson]

Canada among 10 countries with highest cumulative mpox cases, WHO reports

Published Aug. 15, 2023 1:00 p.m. CDT
Sissi De Flaviis

... From Jan. 1, 2022 to Aug. 9, 2023, the WHO has noted a total of 89,308 laboratory-confirmed cases of mpox, or monkeypox, reported globally, according to a status report published on Monday.

... As of July 28, 2023, the government of Canada has received detailed case reports on 1,440 confirmed cases of mpox in the country, and is reporting a total of 1,503 confirmed cases on its dashboard.

That differs slightly from the World Health Organization's figure of 1,496 confirmed Canadian cases, which the WHO says is expected and due "to different inclusion criteria and different data cut-off times." ...

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-among-10-countries-reporting-highest-cumulative-mpox-cases-who-reports-1.6520194

[Shiloh]

1,496 cases in 9 provinces/territories (May 26, 2023): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/mpox/

[Shiloh]

1,485 cases in 9 provinces/territories (April 28, 2023): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/mpox/

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Translation Google


Public Health reports new cases of monkeypox diagnosed in Montreal

Ugo Giguère - The Canadian Press
March 30, 2023

A month almost to the day after the Ministry of Health and Social Services officially announced the end of the outbreak of monkeypox in Quebec, two new cases have appeared in Montreal, reports Public Health.

In an update of its "call for vigilance", the regional direction of Public Health of Montreal (DRSP) reveals that "after several months without reporting new cases" in the metropolis, two laboratory-confirmed cases have been reported. since March 17.

The health authorities are therefore launching a new call for vaccination among the population groups most at risk. According to Public Health data, the vaccination coverage of at-risk clients is estimated at 54% for a first dose and 24% for a second dose.

“Our vaccination coverage could really be improved. It would allow us to be better protected and prevent the risk of local transmission, ”explains Dr. Geneviève Bergeron, medical chief of the infectious disease prevention and control sector at the DRSP.

This infectious disease disproportionately affects men who have sex with other men. The two recently reported cases are believed to be linked to men who traveled to countries where local transmission is well documented.

Dr. Bergeron recalls that each case of infection acquired abroad “can lead to local transmission”.

In this regard, if the epidemic was considered to be over in Montreal and Quebec, the World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that it is a “public health emergency of international concern”.

According to information provided by Public Health, the two recently infected people had received at least one dose of the Imvamune preventive vaccine, which reduces the risk of contracting the disease and developing serious complications.


“There is no vaccine that is 100% effective, but we know that the vaccine is effective. Among people who have received the vaccine, we see presentations that are less severe. Fewer lesions, fewer complications,” says Dr. Bergeron.

The virus is transmitted by direct contact of the skin or mucous membranes with the lesions of an infected person or their biological fluids. It can also be transmitted by respiratory droplets during prolonged close contact.

The main symptoms are first fever, headache, fatigue, chills, body aches and inflammation of the glands. Thereafter, one sees the appearance of rashes on the face and elsewhere on the body. These rashes can be very painful, we warn.

More than 500 cases

Between May and October 2022, 400 probable and confirmed cases of monkeypox were diagnosed in Montreal. Across Quebec, the Ministry of Health and Social Services has counted 526 probable or confirmed cases in connection with this outbreak.

The last appearances of monkeypox in Montreal dated back to the fall of 2022. A vaccination campaign quickly deployed by Montreal Public Health last summer slowed its spread.

Anyone wishing to obtain the vaccine is invited to consult the Clic Santé platform to make an appointment.

Public Health calls on health professionals to be vigilant in order to identify other cases and promote the preventive vaccine to the target public.

https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/787428/la-sante-publique-rapporte-de-nouveaux-cas-de-variole-simienne-diagnostiques-a-montreal

[Shiloh]

1,460 cases in 9 provinces/territories (February 3, 2023 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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1,460 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Jan. 20, 2023 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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1,460 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Jan. 6, 2023 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

[Shiloh]

1,446 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Nov. 25, 2022 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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1,445 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Nov. 14, 2022 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

[Shiloh]

Source: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal...ines-1.6141911



Montreal doctors cautiously optimistic as monkeypox declines
Jacob Serebrin
The Canadian Press
Updated Nov. 7, 2022 8:43 a.m. EST
Published Nov. 7, 2022 8:42 a.m. EST


Once the Canadian epicentre of monkeypox, Montreal has nearly eradicated the virus from its territory, according to health experts.

However, Montreal's public health department (DSP) warns that tourists and other visitors can still import cases -- and it's still unclear how long the vaccine will remain effective.

Dr. Geneviève Bergeron, head of health emergencies and infectious diseases at the Montreal DSP, is cautiously optimistic.

"We have certainly seen a sharp decline in the last few weeks," she confirmed in a recent interview.

Dr. Réjean Thomas, president of l'Actual, a clinic specializing in sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, reports seeing nearly a dozen people a day who thought they had the disease. Now, these cases are few and far between.

His clinic has treated a total 125 monkeypox patients -- more than a quarter of all cases in Montreal since the first was detected on May 12.

But Thomas says the future remains uncertain; he recently saw a monkeypox patient vaccinated in July.

"So that's the big question: how effective will the vaccine be and for how long?" he said....

[Shiloh]

1,444 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Nov. 4, 2022 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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1,435 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Oct. 28, 2022 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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1,436 cases in 9 provinces/territories (Oct. 21, 2022 update): https://health-infobase.canada.ca/monkeypox/

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Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...2022-1.6624625

Sask. reports 3 more monkeypox cases, bringing total of confirmed cases to 6: health ministry
No active case contact investigations at this time, says Ministry of Health
Theresa Kliem · CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2022 9:13 AM CT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health says there are now six confirmed cases of monkeypox in the province.

The Public Health Agency of Canada was still reporting three cases in Saskatchewan online as of Friday morning, but in an update, the province's Ministry of Health says the actual number is six.

In an email to CBC, the Ministry of Health said it reported an additional three cases to PHAC on Tuesday.

"There may be a public posting time lag for the federal agency, so those cases will be posted shortly," the provincial ministry said, adding that as of Wednesday, Saskatchewan was reporting six confirmed cases of monkeypox.

The first three cases in Saskatchewan were confirmed as of mid-August...