Nova Scotia has its first confirmed case of monkeypox in a resident in the province.
The person got the illness while travelling outside the province. Symptoms appeared after the person’s return to Nova Scotia. Public Health has been following this case closely and has identified only one low-risk contact.
“Monkeypox cases have been reported in other Canadian jurisdictions, but the risk of exposure remains low,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. “Nova Scotia is working closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada to monitor the situation here and across the country.”
Monkeypox is spread through very close, intimate person-to-person contact, and so far, has been reported mostly among men who identify as gay or bisexual, or men who have sex with men.
The province is currently reserving its very small allotment of 160 doses of vaccine for those at the highest risk of infection, such as those who are deemed close contacts of someone with monkeypox.
The province is working with the federal government to quickly increase Nova Scotia’s supply of the monkeypox vaccine, Imvamune. The Province has also been working closely with groups including Sexual Health Nova Scotia, prideHealth and the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia as it moves to establish a pre-exposure vaccination program targeted to high-risk groups.
