FILE - This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak.
Image Credit: (Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP, File)
June 06, 2022 - 1:43 PM
B.C. health officials are following up after the first case of monkeypox was confirmed in the province.
B.C. Centre for Disease Control has confirmed the monkeypox case in a person who lives in Vancouver. Vancouver Coastal Health public health officials are following up, according to a Provincial Health Services Authority media release.
Monkeypox is spread from person to person through contact with sores and items like bedding or towels that have monkeypox virus on them, the health authority said. It can also spread through respiratory droplets such as coughs and sneezes during prolonged close, face-to-face contact with a person who has monkeypox.
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“While the virus is not known to transmit through semen, vaginal or rectal fluids, it does spread through close contact during sexual activity,” the release said.
Since May 2022, more than 700 cases of monkeypox have been found, mostly in Europe, and it tends to cause mild disease.
There’s a vaccine for the virus available in Canada. Public health teams are assessing which close contacts of the Vancouver man may need to be vaccinated. There’s no benefit from immunization if a person is already infected.
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The health services authority said the risk to the general public is very low and there isn’t a need for a public vaccination program.
For more information about monkeypox check on the B.C. Centre for Disease Control website here.
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