Alberta monkeypox onset is not something to fret about say research experts

Alberta has confirmed its first case of monkeypox Thursday afternoon two weeks after the first cases were found in Canada.

Questions are arising about what this virus means for Canadians and will it be similar to the coronavirus outbreak?

Research experts including virologists are saying people can rest easy.

“The situation is very different,” said David Evans, Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Alberta.

“It tends to be self-limiting and doesn’t spread particularly well, which is one of the reasons why it’s not encountered very often in the western world at least,” said Evans.

Monkeypox is part of the orthopoxvirus family considered endemic in parks of West and Central Africa carried mainly by small rodents. Transmission can happen through close contact with lesions and bodily fluids. Evans says it’s not nearly as infectious as other diseases, like COVID-19.

“Occasionally they will transmit it to one family member or someone they’re in close contact with. Very very rarely will it go one step further,” said Evans.

This upsurge in cases is on a larger scale than previous surges of the virus. Evans says current cases are connected to each other presumably from a large social event in Spain or Portugal.

The recent uptick has the World Health Organization looking to bolster surveillance of the virus in countries where it is endemic. Something Evans says has previously been a blind spot for western countries.

Read More:

• Alberta has recorded its first case of monkeypox

• Quebec health authorities say 52 monkeypox cases confirmed in province

• Monkeypox WHO expert doesn’t expect pandemic as situation evolves

“It’s one of those diseases that we neglected our peril, we say ‘oh well, we don’t really have it or it’s so minor, we don’t need to worry about it, and yet because we haven’t done anything to help the countries where it’s endemic – with our vaccines and drugs that we’ve been developing over the past 20-30 years—we continue to face this risk of periodic importation of the disease from those places,” said Evans.

Approximately 58 cases have been confirmed across Canada since May 19 in Alberta and Ontario with most cases in Quebec. And 25 other non-endemic countries are also reporting cases as well as five countries where it is considered endemic.

“People who remember some of the discussions around COVID will remember something called the R-naught, the reproduction number. This virus has an R-naught which is quite probably less than one which means it tends to burn out pretty quickly,” said Evans.

Evans says those close to a confirmed case should speak with their physician. And for the rest of us?

“Pay attention to other, more relevant threats like traffic accidents and stuff like that,” added Evans.