Canadian health authorities confirmed on the night of Thursday, May 19 the first two cases of monkeypox in the countryboth in the city of Montreal, and said that there are another 20 cases that are being investigated.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Quebec Ministry of Health said in two statements that tests carried out by the National Microbiology Laboratory with samples from two patients have confirmed the first two cases of the disease.
In recent days, individuals in the UK, Portugal and Spain have been diagnosed with this smallpox.
The PHAC added that it is working with other health agencies to investigate new probable cases of monkeypox in the country.
(Read more: The real risks of Monkeypox).
For its part, the Quebec Ministry of Health estimated at 20 the number of possible cases that are being investigated in the Canadian province.
On Wednesday, May 18, US authorities detected a case in a man residing in the state of Massachusetts, in the northeast of the country, and who had recently traveled to Montreal.
On Thursday morning, Montreal Public Health Director Dr. Mylène Drouin revealed that medical authorities had identified 17 probable cases of monkeypox in the city.
Drouin added that the detection in the United States of the case of the patient who contracted the disease after traveling to Montreal alerted Canadian authorities to the situation.
PHAC explained in a statement that it is working with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Quebec to investigate the potential exposure and contacts of the case detected in Massachusetts.
Experts have explained that monkeypox transmission occurs by close contact and prolonged with bodily fluids, respiratory droplets, or by sharing clothing from an infected person.
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EFE
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