Virologist not surprised by mpox case in Manitoba

A Manitoba virologist said he is not surprised by the first confirmed mpox case in the province.

“The reality is that it’s not that surprising,” said Jason Kindrachuk, who is also an associate professor of medical microbiology and infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.

“We’ve been on the ground in [the Democratic Republic of the Congo]... really fighting on the frontlines in terms of mpox response for close to 24 months. We knew that as the virus continued to expand, we’d likely see international introductions.”

Kindrachuk’s comments come less than a week after Manitoba reported a confirmed case of clade I mpox has been identified in the province. This travel-related case is linked to an ongoing outbreak in central and eastern Africa.

Kindrachuk described the case in Manitoba as a "low-risk situation,” adding that the country has a good surveillance system, as well as strong diagnostic testing and vaccine capacity for mpox.

He added that clade I mpox was always considered more severe than clade II; however, now things are a bit murkier.

“Even in DRC, we’ve seen quite a bit of shift depending on where you are, if you have more zoonotic contacts or wildlife contacts – the likelihood seems to be higher for more severe disease, especially amongst children under the age of 15,” he said.

The individual diagnosed with mpox is currently in isolation, and contacts have been notified.

Kindrachuk noted the likelihood of community transmission is low.

“The big positive is this case was identified very quickly, and certainly they are receiving care very, very quickly as well,” he said.

Kindrachuk said Manitoba should see this case as a warning sign to not let this go unchecked for too long.

“We need to still do our due diligence for ensuring that people get access to therapeutics and certainly have a low stigma attached to self-reporting for potential cases.”

• With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagace and Devon McKendrick.