Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam confirmed a total of 168 cases of monkeypox in the country as of Friday.
"We continue to monitor and respond to the evolving monkeypox situation, including supporting provinces and territories in their efforts to roll out targeted vaccination campaigns," Tam said, adding that they are working to raise awareness of how the virus is transmitted.
According to her, among the cases for whom information is available and has been reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada, all cases are male and ages range from 20 to 69 years.
Monkeypox is a sylvatic zoonosis that may cause infections in humans and the disease usually occurs in forested parts of Central and West Africa. It is caused by the monkeypox virus which belongs to the orthopoxvirus family, according to the World Health Organization.