MADRID, May 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Health authorities in Spain’s Madrid region said they detected 11 confirmed new cases of monkeypox on Tuesday (May 24), bringing the total cases in Spain to 48, practically all in the capital city.
In neighboring Portugal, which along with Spain has been one of the main hotspots of the recent outbreak of the viral disease outside its endemic areas in Africa, health authorities added two confirmed cases, putting the total at 39.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the outbreak can be contained as more governments said they would launch limited vaccinations to combat rising infections.
Authorities have been investigating 237 suspected and confirmed cases of the usually mild viral infection that is endemic in parts of west and central Africa, in 19 mostly European countries since early May.
Most of the infections so far have not been severe, and many, but not all, of the cases have been reported in men who have sex with men. Symptoms include a fever and a distinctive bumpy rash.
CANADA: The Canadian province of Quebec confirmed 15 cases of monkeypox as of Monday, the Quebec health department said, with more cases from other parts of the country expected.
Canada’s federal health minister said more samples from other parts of the country were being sent to a laboratory in Winnipeg for testing.
“We expect more cases to be confirmed in the coming days,” Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement. It wasn’t immediately clear what symptoms the people infected were showing, nor how serious their condition might be.
Canada confirmed its first two cases of monkeypox last week after authorities in Quebec said they were investigating 17 suspected cases.
Duclos said the federal government began “pre-positioning of the vaccine Imvamune and therapeutics from our National Emergency Strategic Stockpile in jurisdictions across the country”. A small shipment of the Imvamune vaccine was sent to Quebec on Tuesday, he said.
“I want to reiterate to Canadians that this is a different situation than we saw ourselves in with the emergence of COVID-19,” Duclos said, noting that unlike the coronavirus pandemic Canada has a supply of vaccines on hand already.
DENMARK: Denmark will provide vaccines produced by Bavarian Nordic to close contacts of those infected with monkeypox, the Danish Health Authority told public broadcaster DR on Tuesday.
“The Health Authority will provide the vaccine to persons in close contact with the infected,” director Bolette Soborg told DR.
“The vaccine will be given after one has been exposed to the infected, and is meant to reduce the risk of a serious course of disease,” Soborg added.
It was not immediately clear whether Denmark had the vaccines in stock or whether authorities would need to procure the vaccines.
There have been more than 100 suspected or confirmed cases in Europe and North America of monkeypox – a disease usually found in west and central Africa – according to the World Health Organization. Denmark has registered two cases of monkeypox infection during the current outbreak. — NNN-AGENCIES
