Cases of monkeypox continue to accumulate in Quebec as the Ministry of Health now reports 15 confirmed cases of infections.
Health Quebec announced this new report in a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
According to information made available by the ministry, the symptoms of the infection “consist mainly of skin lesions in the regions of the mouth and genitals”. Other symptoms include fever, night sweats, headache, swollen glands, and joint or muscle pain.
People who have had sexual contact with or live in the same household as a suspected case are asked to monitor themselves for symptoms over the next 21 days. It is also mentioned that infected people could be contagious up to five days before the appearance of their symptoms.
In the event of the appearance of symptoms, people are invited to isolate themselves at home, wear a mask, cover their lesions and consult a health professional by informing them of the situation beforehand.
A rare disease
Also called “monkey pox”, this rare viral disease is part of the smallpox family, but remains more benign. It is generally limited to Africa. Rare cases in the United States and elsewhere are usually travel-related.
However, cases have recently been confirmed or suspected in a number of countries, including the UK, Portugal and Spain.
Most infections last two to four weeks. Infections with this strain of monkeypox are fatal in about 1 in 100 infected people, but the death rate may be higher in immunocompromised people.
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