New Brunswick health officials are reporting the province’s first confirmed case of monkeypox.
Public Health said in a statement late Friday that the individual is isolating and is being monitored.
Health officials did not provide details on the age or gender of the person, or say which health zone they are located in.
Contact tracers are working to determine the source of the infection, said the statement, adding that the person had not recently travelled outside of the province.
“New Brunswickers should know that monkeypox virus spreads by close contact with infected humans or animals and does not spread like COVID-19,” Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said in the statement.
“The general public is not at a similar level of risk but should still be aware of how to reduce their personal risk.”
Public Health is notified of any presumptive cases, which are then confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
The province said it is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada and other partners to ensure additional vaccines will be available. Based on the available supply, the department’s current strategy is to offer the vaccine to close contacts of a case.
New Brunswick reported a suspected travel-related case of monkeypox in early June. The individual tested negative, but officials said they could not safely rule out monkeypox since the person was tested after their symptoms had faded.
“An individual sought medical advice for an unrelated problem and mentioned some past symptoms which had already resolved,” a spokesperson for Public Health said at the time.
Cases across Canada
As of Friday morning, there were 1,059 confirmed cases of monkeypox spanning five provinces and one territory. Ontario has the majority of the cases at 511, followed by Quebec with 426 cases.
Among cases for whom additional information is available, more than 99 per cent are male and the median age was 35 years old.
To date, there have been 28 reported hospitalizations, including two ICU admissions, and no deaths due to monkeypox in Canada.
“In line with international trends, the majority of confirmed cases in Canada with available information on exposure history reported intimate sexual contact with other men,” the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement on Friday.
“It is important to stress that anyone regardless of their sex, gender, race or sexual orientation can become infected with or spread the virus.”
Federal health officials said they are largely seeing person-to-person spread in the current outbreak. This can occur when someone has close contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids, respiratory droplets or skin sores, or through direct contact with clothing, sheets or other personal items that have been in contact with an infected person.
Common symptoms include a rash or skin sores on any part of the body, which may be accompanied by general symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and swollen lymph nodes.
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