More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A theory that the recent outbreak of monkeypox may be tied to sexual activity has put the gay community in an unfortunate position, having fought back against previous and continued stigma around HIV and AIDS, an LGBTQ2S+ centre director says.
David Hawkins, executive director of the West Island LGBTQ2+ Centre in Beaconsfield, Que., told CTV News Channel on Saturday that the situation is frustrating, and he worries the conversation around monkeypox will indirectly impact and stigmatize the LGBTQ2S+ — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit and other — community yet again.
"We have very strong community organizations that are working to destigmatize HIV and AIDS still, and they still have a lot of work to do and they're doing that work, but I think the reality is, is that we may also need to start having this conversation about monkeypox," Hawkins said.
A number of western countries, including Canada, have reported cases of monkeypox.
First discovered in 1958, monkeypox is a rare disease caused by a virus that belongs to the same family as the one that causes smallpox. The disease was first found in colonies of monkeys used for research and has primarily been reported in central and western African countries.
Monkeypox typically causes fever, chills, rash and lesions on the face or genitals, and can spread through close contact via respiratory droplets or bodily fluids with an infected person or their contaminated material, such as clothing or bedsheets. However, infections usually occur through contact with infected animals, such as wild rodents and primates.
As of Monday morning, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 90 cases in a dozen countries, but health officials have stressed that monkeypox is not COVID-19.
A report on Monday from The Associated Press quoted a leading adviser to the WHO, who said the unprecedented outbreak, while "random" and unlikely to trigger widespread transmission, may be explained by risky sexual behaviour at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium.
U.K. officials say "a notable proportion" of cases in Britain and Europe have been in young men with no history of travel to Africa and who are gay, bisexual or have sex with men. Authorities in Portugal and Spain said their cases were in men who mostly had sex with other men and whose infections were picked up when they sought help for lesions at sexual health clinics.
Monkeypox has not previously resulted in widespread outbreaks beyond Africa, where it is endemic in animals.
Most people recover within several weeks without requiring hospitalization, and smallpox vaccines are effective in preventing monkeypox. Health officials say no deaths have been reported among the current cases.
On Friday, Quebec's health department said five cases had been confirmed in the province and the Public Health Agency of Canada was investigating about two-dozen other cases.
Health officials in Toronto said Saturday that they also are investigating the first suspected case of monkeypox in the city.
Speaking to CTV's Power Play on Friday, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said given the long incubation period of monkeypox, he expects it to "grumble along for a while," potentially for weeks.
"So good hand hygiene, and if people are in close proximity with a known case, a mask would help," he said.
With files from CTVNews.ca Writer Solarina Ho, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
____
CTVNews.ca wants to hear from Canadians with any questions.
Tell us what you’d like to know when it comes to monkeypox.
To submit your question, email us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca with your name, location and question. Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.