OTTAWA, Canada -- The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed 1,168 cases of monkeypox including 30 hospitalisations in the country as of Friday.
The health agency said that of the confirmed cases, 571 cases are from Ontario, 453 from Quebec, 119 from British Columbia, 19 from Alberta, three from Saskatchewan, two from the Yukon and one from New Brunswick.
The agency has deployed more than 105,000 doses of Imvamune vaccine to provinces and territories with over 59,000 people vaccinated with at least one dose as of Aug. 14.
Nationally, there has been a slowing trend in the increase in new cases reported in recent weeks. Over 99 percent of reported cases are male and the median age was 36 years, the PHAC said, adding that among the confirmed cases for whom additional information is available, the majority reported intimate sexual contact with other men.
Experts say monkeypox is a viral disease that can spread from person to person through close contact with an infected person, including through hugs, kisses, massages or sexual intercourse.