The infected person remains in isolation and contact tracers have been called in to identify the source of the infection and notify close contacts. Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, issued a statement late Friday informing New Brunswickers that the virus is spread through close contact with infected people or animals and does not spread like COVID-19. “The general public is not at a similar level of risk, but they should know how to reduce their personal risk,” Russell said in a statement. Saskatchewan warns of increased risk of monkeypox through ‘anonymous sex’, expands vaccine eligibility Ontario’s current smallpox vaccination strategy is working, says the province’s top doctor Explained: Monkeypox Outbreak Explained: Symptoms, Vaccines, Spread & More Monkeypox disease comes from the same family of viruses that cause smallpox, which the World Health Organization declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Monkeypox outbreaks began to appear around the world in non-endemic countries in May and the WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency late last month. The number of Canadian monkeypox cases topped 1,000 just this week, although there are early signs the virus may now be spreading at a slower rate. Public Health Canada says the majority of domestic cases are among men who reported having intimate sex with other men. Having multiple sex partners can increase the overall risk, but the agency says the risk of exposure is not exclusive to any group or setting. On Friday, Canada’s public health chief said plans are underway to investigate Canadian sewage to control monkeypox. Dr. Theresa Tam said the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg has developed a method that will use the infrastructure set up to track COVID-19 through wastewater testing. Experts say the COVID-19 pandemic has proven how useful wastewater testing can be, especially when it comes to early detection.
