No suspect cases or contacts of monkeypox under investigation in B.C. at this time

BC health officials say an investigation has determined there are no known cases of monkeypox in the province.

Canada's chief public health officer said earlier today that a couple dozen people were under investigation for the viral disease, including a few contacts in BC.

But a statement from Provincial Health Services Authority and the BC Centre for Disease Control says officials interviewed two possible contacts in B-C and determined they had not been exposed.

Monkeypox is typically milder but similar to the now-eradicated smallpox virus, and can cause fever, headache, muscle aches, exhaustion, swollen lymph nodes and lesions all over the body.