monkeypox have researchers in Canada and elsewhere in the world trying to figure out just how widespread the virus is.Monkeypox is rarely found outside of Africa, but potential cases in Europe and North America, including 17 in Montreal, have caught health officials’ attention.How contagious can it be, and why is it called monkeypox in the first place?
Here’s what we know so far.Monkeypox is an orthopoxvirus that causes disease, typically transmitted to humans from animals, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) told Global News.Human-to-human transmission can occur through close contact with another person, through bodily fluids, lesions on skin like blisters, and/or respiratory droplets.Symptoms of monkeypox include fever, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘Strong possibility’ of 17 monkeypox cases in Montreal area, health officials say It added that after one to three days of fever, sufferers of monkeypox can develop a facial rash that then spreads to other parts of the body as lesions, which later fall off.The incubation period for monkeypox is usually seven to 14 days, but can range as wide as five to 21 days.