1st suspected case of monkeypox reported in New Brunswick

New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard says the province has its first “suspected case of monkeypox.”

Shephard made the comment during question period Wednesday morning, but didn’t provide more details.

During a scrum later in the morning, she said the suspected case was detected in early May but they are waiting on the national mircrobiology lab in Winnipeg to confirm it.

“Once we have that confirmation, or not, then we’ll be able to comment on it,” she said.

Shephard could not say where the suspected case is located in the province.

In a news release, Public Health said it was made aware of a “possible travel-related” case of monkeypox.

“Public Health has ensured that close contacts of the individual were notified and said it does not have reason to believe they transmitted the infection,” the release read.

“Public Health wishes to assure New Brunswickers that the monkeypox virus spreads by close contact with infected humans or animals and does not spread like COVID-19. The public is not at risk.”

So far in Canada, cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

Last month, New Brunswick’s Department of Health said they were aware of the “evolving situation regarding monkeypox in Canada, the United States and Europe,” and that they were working to prepare for any cases in the province.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic infectious disease that results in occasional human infections usually associated with exposure to infected animals or contaminated materials, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches. Patients develop lesions that spread throughout the body before falling off.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says monkeypox is usually a mild illness, and most people recover on their own after a few weeks.

“However, in some situations people may become very sick and death may occur,” the agency said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the viral disease was first recorded in humans in 1970 and has since been reported in other central and western African countries.

It has now spread to at least 20 countries and global health officials have expressed alarm over the growing outbreak in non-endemic countries.

“The identification of confirmed and suspected cases of monkeypox with no direct travel links to an endemic area represents a highly unusual event,” the World Health Organization has said.