Manitoba reports first monkeypox case

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This article was published 18/08/2022 (817 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has reported its first case of monkeypox, which officials believe came from outside the province.

“We believe this is an isolated case,” said Dr. Jazz Atwal, deputy chief provincial public health officer.

“The risk to the general public remains low, but it is important for everyone to be aware of monkeypox.”

Officials are conducting contact tracing, but won’t disclose the age and gender of the infected person or where they live. Atwal wouldn’t say whether the infected person had been vaccinated.

“We appreciate that many people will have questions about this case, however, we need to balance that against our responsibly to protect the identity of this person,” Atwal said.

Future cases will likely have the same amount of information released, unless the public needs to know about possible exposures in specific venues, he said.

Manitoba’s first victim is suspected to have been infected outside the province, but Atwal wouldn’t say if it was elsewhere in Canada.

“In general, monkeypox does not spread easily through casual contact,” Atwal said, noting it’s mostly spread through skin contact, as well as contaminated surfaces and prolonged face-to-face contact.

The disease has been endemic in some areas of Africa for years, but has rapidly spread in developed countries this year, particularly among men who have sex with men.

As of Aug. 14, 168 doses of the Imvamune vaccine had been administered in Manitoba.

The province made doses available as on Aug. 8, but ran out of appointments that day during a rollout that started much later than in other provinces.

Three days later, the province began offering more appointments; it indicated it had a limited supply of the vaccine, but would not provide details on the number of doses available.

Atwal said the province is confident it has enough doses to reach the population most at risk, and that it can seek more supplies from Ottawa as needed.

Those who qualify should seek appointments online or call Health Links; the province also announced Friday there will be a three-day walk-in clinic in Winnipeg next week.

Atwal said an unspecified number of samples that medical staff collected for unrelated testing were sent for monkeypox screening as an additional surveillance measure — all of them tested negative.

Earlier Friday, the nation’s top doctor said provinces with emerging cases of monkeypox should spread the word about prevention

“The knowledge is getting out, but we can always do more,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, adding the trajectory of the epidemic curve is slowing in Canada.

“I think we can make sure that the cases don’t increase rapidly in the other jurisdictions.”

In Canada, 99 per cent of reported cases of monkeypox involve men, with a median age of 36. The vast majority had reported intimate contact with other men.

Public health officials say it’s important to get messaging out through groups that serve gay and bisexual men without adding to stigma, as anyone can be infected.

The Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization have recommended limiting intimate contacts, particularly through anonymous sex, to reduce the risk of transmission.

Provincial medical officers across the country have agreed vaccines should be targeted to high-risk groups, Tam said.

She added there appears to be sufficient vaccines for this population, but it’s up to provinces to make sure the doses reach people who need them.

Tam also said she isn’t sure how many cases of the disease are unreported.

“We don’t have sufficient data to do forecasting, but we have been looking at different scenarios,” she said, noting uncontrolled spread would mean a much higher number of reported cases.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca