Canada has recorded until Friday 77 confirmed cases of so-called monkey pox, almost all detected in Quebec, where the authorities consider the situation “worrying”. The North American nation had confirmed its first two cases on May 20 in this French-speaking province.

A situation deemed “worrying”, explained Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief administrator of the Federal Public Health Agency of Canada, during a press conference. The authorities fear in particular “that cases develop in families and affect pregnant women or young children”he added.

Njoo also clarified that this spread “is not (restricted) to a particular group or settingand can therefore affect “anyone, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation”.

In this sense, smallpox vaccines were delivered to the province. They can be effective in protecting contact cases because there is no specific cure for monkeypox, which usually goes away on its own.

Monkeypox is mainly a mild disease, but its spread outside endemic areas, such as West Africa, remains a concern.

Since the start of the current peak in cases almost a month ago, 550 cases have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 30 countries, mainly in Europe, where the disease is not endemic and is very rarely detected.

This infectious disease is characterized by the appearance of rashes, which can be painful, especially if they are in sensitive areas such as the genitals.

It should be noted that, as mentioned, the appearance in several European countries of the disease has begun to worry in world health organizations, as several countries have reported cases.

The first record of this type of smallpox dates from the 20th century and in 2003 there was a small outbreak in the United States which infected less than a hundred people.

Monkeypox is transmitted from animals to humans and it was first discovered in monkeys – hence its name – but contrary to what one might think, the disease is mainly transmitted by rodents like rats and squirrels.

These animals, which are also infected and suffer from the disease, are its main transmitters in African countries, where more outbreaks are occurring. The problem is that This epidemic is the largest ever recorded outside of Africa.

More than 19 non-African countries, including Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium, have reported cases of the disease in recent weeks.

The United Kingdom is, in Europe, the country where the most cases have been confirmed of the disease (71) and in the first place where the health alarms went off a few weeks ago.

The outbreak of this epidemic, as reported by the health authorities of the European Union, is due to the participation of people now infected in mass parties during which they have been in strong contact with the disease.

Dr David Heymann, who was at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that it is likely that this disease was transmitted by “sexual contact” among the people who attended these massive parties, held mainly in Spain and Belgium.

In the case of the infections in Germany and the UK, for example, all infected people reported having attended one of these parties.

*With information from AFP.