Canadian health officials on Tuesday diagnosed 10 new monkey flu cases in Quebec, bringing the national total to 15, and expect more outbreaks in other provinces.
The monkey, which has been diagnosed in recent weeks in Europe and North America, is a rare disease that has appeared in Africa and usually disappears spontaneously.
“We hope that more cases will be confirmed in the coming days,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, adding that more samples are being tested.
He said the federal government had made available the immunization vaccine and other drugs stored in the National Strategic Emergency Reserve.
The first dose of the vaccine was given in the province of Quebec on Tuesday.
Although there is no specific vaccine for monkey flu, the measles vaccine can be used to prevent it.
Canada confirmed its first two cases last week in the French-speaking province.
Monkey is an infectious disease caused by a virus that is commonly transmitted from rodents to humans.
But the virus was first discovered in a group of macaques that were studied in 1958, hence its name, Inserm, according to a leading French medical research firm.
tib / ube / mtp / atm / mas
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