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
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.