As of Friday, Canada has registered 77 confirmed cases of monkeypox, almost all of which have been identified in Quebec, where authorities have found the situation “worrying”.

The US nation confirmed the first two cases in this French-speaking state on May 20.

Deputy head of the Canadian federal public health agency, Dr. Howard Njoo described a situation considered “worrying” at a press conference. Authorities, in particular, “are afraid that cases may run in families and affect pregnant women or young children,” he added.

Njoo further explained that this spread is “not (limited) to a particular group or circle” and therefore can affect “everyone, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation”.

In this context, smallpox vaccines were delivered to the provinces. They can be effective in protecting contact cases, as there is no specific treatment for monkeypox, which usually goes away on its own.

Monkeypox is a mild disease, but its spread outside of endemic areas such as West Africa worries experts.

Since the current case peak began about a month ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 550 cases in 30 countries, mainly in Europe, where the disease is not endemic and has been detected very rarely.

This infectious disease is characterized by the appearance of skin rashes that can be painful, especially in sensitive areas such as the genitals.