New Brunswick's first confirmed case of Monkeypox not travel-related
The first confirmed case of Monkeypox was identified in New Brunswick on Friday, and according to the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jennifer Russell, it was contracted due to community spread.
"The person has not travelled, and so that means that there could be other cases within the province,” said Russell. “We are really working closely with our regional public health teams to do contract tracing at this time and identify those contacts and offer them vaccines.”
At this time, the Monkeypox vaccine is not widely available to the public.
"We're offering vaccines to contacts of cases and cases themselves, so at this time, that's what's being done,” Dr. Russell said.
The virus spreads through close physical contact with an infected person and not in the same manner as COVID-19.
"The virus appears to be in those who have close contact of a sexual nature right now,” said Dr. Mark MacMillan, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society. “I don't think we'll see a large amount of people that we'll start suggesting isolation, however, one case can lead to two cases and that can lead to more, so we do have to cognizant of the fact that this virus is in the country,” MacMillan said.
Health-care professionals are encouraging Maritimers to be cautious.
"Even with COVID-19, there's the same sort of guidelines that you can follow when you're in very close physical contact with someone,” MacMillan said. “You may not know, or if they appear to have any infectious symptoms, obviously try to remove yourself from that situation.”
But if you’re a health-care worker, he added, you’ll still have to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
Public Health is reminding people to stay vigilant when it comes to close physical contact and watch for signs of infection.
"Monkeypox virus transmits to other people within six to thirteen days,” Dr. Russell said. “At the onset, you will have fever, fatigue, muscle aches and pains, and lymphadenopathy (swelling of the lymph nodes) and then that will be followed one to three days later with a rash that is mostly on the extremities,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.