“As of June 2, 71 cases were reported in Quebec. To this, five cases [were reported] in Ontario and one in Alberta, are added," the Quebec Health Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said most of the reported cases have been among gay and bisexual men.

However, Tam also said the risk of exposure is not exclusively related to any group, and men as well as women can equally be affected.

The Quebec Ministry of Health advised residents to monitor for symptoms within a period of 21 days if they had been in close contact with a suspected case of infection or with symptomatic individuals.

"[A]void sleeping in the same bed, avoid sexual relations, limit your contact with them and wear a mask in their presence,” the release said.

Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease, transmitted from animals to humans and it comes from the same family of viruses that causes smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980. A number of doctors in the United States have publicly said the disease is identifiable and treatable, and the population should not panic.