Manitoba monitoring for monkeypox; no cases yet

The Manitoba government says so far, no cases of monkeypox have been reported in the province.

A spokesperson for the government confirmed the news to CTV News Winnipeg Friday morning.

“To date, there have been no suspected or confirmed cases identified in Manitoba. If a change needs to be reported, public health will do so in the appropriate manner,” the province said.

According to the federal government, 58 cases of monkeypox have been reported in Canada. Alberta reported its first case on Thursday.

The majority of confirmed cases are in Quebec, with 52, followed by five cases in Ontario.

Monkeypox symptoms are similar to those of smallpox, but generally milder. The first signs are fever, headache, muscle aches, backaches, chills, and exhaustion.

A distinguishing feature specific to monkeypox is that an infection also causes lymphadenopathy – the swelling of the lymph nodes.

It usually takes about seven to 17 days from the time a person is infected to when they begin showing symptoms, though it can be as short as five days and as long as 21 days.

The infection usually lasts between two and four weeks.

-With files from CTV’s Solarina Ho