How contagious is the monkeypox mpox virus? How can Canadians avoid it?

Mpox has been declared a global public health emergency, and although immunologists say more research is needed to determine its extent, cases are being reported across communities and the virus is having an impact. not only on adults but also on children.

Known as mpox group 1b, the strain has spread across much of Africa since it was first discovered in the Kamituga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Last week, a case was reported in Sweden in a person who had traveled to an affected African country, the first case confirmed outside the continent.

Cluster 2b was the strain that caused the public health crisis in 2022, with concerns emerging at the time that it was linked to the LGBT community, with gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM) aged 18 and 49 years disproportionately. .

David Kelvin, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Dalhousie University and one of the lead researchers studying the Kamituga mpox strain, said the initial study showed that some of the first cases from heterosexual contact, however, since they were discovered last year , several cases have been found in… Children too.

How contagious is it?

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, evidence indicates that the first group – of group 1b is a variant – is more transmissible and may cause more serious illness than group 2b.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some outbreaks have killed up to 10 percent of those infected, although recent outbreaks have had lower rates.

Earlier this year, the city of Bukavu, near Kamituga, recorded about six cases, and that number has now risen to about 4,000.

The main way the virus spreads is through close contact, usually skin-to-skin, with an infected person and the rash or scabies caused by the virus.

This can include sexual activity, and kissing and other social activities resulting from close contact can spread the virus.

He told Kelvin that one of the reported cases involved a hairdresser who became infected and spread the virus when he was in close contact with clients while they were cutting their hair.

This close connection is also a source of concern for children as schools can be very crowded, including areas in Africa where the virus is spreading.

“Children who are in close contact can touch each other, spread saliva, things like that,” he said.

Contact with saliva, respiratory secretions such as mucus, body fluids or wounds around the genital area can spread the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that prolonged face-to-face interactions such as talking or breathing closely can also spread mpox, although it say this is due to respiratory droplets, not airborne transmission.

Dr. Don Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Center, said that while sexual contact could be part of the spread, it could also spread between household contacts, and in addition, cases could the existence of movement from animals to humans, where it is known as The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes mpox as a zoonotic disease.

He said: “So the combination of possible sexual networks, non-sexual intimate contact networks, and perhaps even exposure to animals, makes us think carefully about the main drivers of spread .”

Dr. Don Shepherd, assistant director of infectious diseases and immunization programs at Public Health Canada, explained that strain 1b is often caused by such animal transmission and could cause some community spread.

He said: “Children are often the most affected in families, but the demographics of the Congo are very different to those of Canada, where there are many young people compared to older people, and so children tend to participate.”

He said that like the variants seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, the spread of the 1b variant to several countries in Africa and now Sweden could also indicate that it is “better at spread,” which may indicate that it may be more contagious. .

Vinh said that people should also be careful about indirect contact, since surfaces that have come into contact with an infected person and have not been sufficiently disinfected can infect another person.

How can Canadians avoid mpox?

The Clade 1 and clade 1b variants were not detected in Canada until August 19, but there are still steps people can take.

• The first is if you decide to travel to one of the affected areas in Africa where mpox is endemic, stay away from crowded areas and practice good public health measures such as hand washing.
• If you have no travel plans, the risk of infection is low but people who are eligible should get the mpox vaccine.

Those who are at higher risk, such as immunity or comorbidities, are among those who should receive the vaccine.

Kelvin explained that although there are indications that this strain and its mpox variant are more malleable and therefore potentially more infectious, there is still more to be done.

He said: “We still need a lot of research to deal with this disease, and given the incredible speed with which the disease can spread within a geographic area and then move across geographic areas else, we may have to be. alert for new issues to emerge. “